2024 Villa Wolf Riesling Dry

The Ernst Loosen Villa Wolf Riesling Dry is a clear, light straw yellow. The nose reveals aromas of white peach and a hint of passion fruit. The palate offers notes of lemon, green apple, and yellow stone fruit, paired with a slightly minerally finish and crisp acidity. It's delicious as a standalone wine, especially thanks to its crisp acidity, but also pairs well with trout with almond shavings, mussels, chicken or turkey, salads, quiche, and fresh goat cheese.

Villa Wolf's Riesling is made from grapes grown on its own vineyards and those supplied by contracted winegrowers. The grapes are harvested at the end of September, destemmed immediately in the vinification room, and gently pressed with the utmost care. The juice is then transferred to large stainless steel tanks for a two-week period of controlled alcoholic fermentation (18°C). The young wine is then aged on its fine lees without malolactic fermentation, thus preserving its optimal freshness. After several months, the wine is blended, and after light filtration, it is bottled.

The Dr. Loosen estate has been in the same family for over 200 years. When Ernst Loosen took over in 1988, he acquired some truly exceptional vines with an average age of over 60 years! Some of the vineyards even consist of ungrafted vines over 120 years old! To produce world-class wines, Ernst Loosen drastically reduced the yield per hectare and immediately stopped the systematic chemical fertilization of the vineyards. Since then, only natural fertilizers have been used in small quantities. The greatest revolution took place in the wine cellars, where everything was geared towards treating the grapes, must, and wines as gently as possible, fully preserving the essence of the terroir and grape. In the vineyards, the Riesling reigns supreme as a unique grape. It takes various forms, from dry to noble sweet, from elegant and light to full-bodied and ultra-concentrated, depending on the harvest time, the age of the vines, the stage of ripeness of the grapes, the presence or absence of noble rot (botrytis), the terroir, and, of course, the vintage. The soil of Dr. Loosen vineyards consists of a rock-hard slate subsoil that forces the roots to dig deep in search of water, minerals, and nutrients. The vineyards' location on the extremely steep, south-facing slopes along the banks of the Mosel River is ideal for slow, perfect ripening. The grapes are bathed in sunshine three times, as it were, directly and reflected by the stony ground and the river. The Dr. Loosen vineyards are situated along the gently meandering Mosel River, between Bernkastel and Kindel, with world-famous names such as Bernkasteler Lay, Dr. Loosen, Graacher Himmelreich, Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Urziger Würzgarten, Erdener Prälat and Erdener Treppchen.