Loewen’s 2006 Leiwener Klostergarten Riesling Kabinett feinherb suggests (as is common for this bottling) roasted pumpkin and squash – an impression enhanced in this instance by a waxy texture – with a subtle savory sense of sweetness even though it finishes dry. Also typical for this wine are an insistent and delightful note of salt and a combined impression of stuffing with (at only 10% alcohol) lift and elegance. This stuff is fiendishly food friendly and capable of strutting its stuff for a decade. The higher residual sugar variation on Klosterlay Riesling was picked entirely at the end of harvest, and also from geologically diverse sites. The Mosel’s greatest champion of once-great but recently-neglected sites and one of German viticulture’s most tireless outside-the-box thinkers in the search for quality, Karl-Josef Loewen took extra efforts in 2006 including adding supplemental pickers who helped him harvest in only ten days. He did not begin until October 8, believing that “before then, the ripeness just wasn’t there.” Loewen is notoriously fearless when it comes to harvesting botrytis, but he tended toward more whole-cluster pressing than usual to help guard against impure elements of rot. In an exciting development, beginning this year, Loewen is taking the lead with Carl Schmitt-Wagner in farming the latter’s ancient Riesling in Longuicher Maximiner Herrenberg.Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel (516) 677-9300