The Loosen 2008 Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Kabinett exhibits kiwi-, strawberry-, and lime-chiffon lightness and palate saturation. At only 7.5% alcohol, it has to be packing a huge load of residual sugar, yet comes off as impeccably balanced and with its levitational delicacy undiminished. Subtle creaminess of texture, notes of green tea, and crushed stone add to the allure of this outstanding value likely to remain a delight for 15 or more years. Ernst Loosen insists he aims to observe an upper limit of 12.5% alcohol for his trocken bottlings, a level that one might have expected was easily achievable in 2008; but in fact, a portion of this vintage’s collection comes close to transgressing it. When it comes to residually sweet Kabinett – a genre in which Loosen has long excelled – his frequently-voiced concerns that “the real thing” was becoming almost impossible (or at least, impossibly expensive) to achieve nowadays certainly do not apply to the 2008 vintage, when his collection of Kabinetts is not only superb, but also lively and feather-light. Indeed, the whole 2008 Loosen Oeuvre – while consisting of fewer wines than usual, with its nobly sweet selections even more (and more spectacularly) focused than usual on Pralat – is superb. What’s more, even cellarmaster Bernard Schug voiced his amazement at just how little sweetness most of the residually sweet wines display.Importer: Loosen Brothers, Portland, OR tel. (510) 864-7255