For a wafting sense of delicacy and for sheer elegance, it’s hard to beat Loosen’s 2008 Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Spatlese A.P. #28, which combines aromas and flavors of white peach, mint, gardenia, lime, and kiwi and offers a chiffon-like concentration of citrus, kiwi, and floral essence. This is like a complex, prismatic cloud descending on your palate and saturating your senses. Subtly creamy yet refreshing, nearly weightless yet not overly sweet, it represents a little marvel of balance that should hold well for 20 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

Plenty of lily, freesia and orange aromas and flavors are buoyed by the bright acidity. Shows delicacy and filigree, with a lingering, mouthwatering finish. Drink now through 2026.??–BS??Region: Germany / Mosel Select to Add

Pale gold in color. The attractive nose features ripe yellow stone fruit with strong mineral overtones, while the palate reveals enough crisp, refreshing acidity to balance the sweetness. There’s a smooth, rich texture, showing ample flavors of ripe stone fruit, floral notes and honey. Concentrated, with a moderately long, fresh finish. ——W.E.(3/1/2011)—— 91