The Loewen 2007 Leiwener Laurentiuslay Riesling Beernauslese – representing the last non-frozen grapes picked here this vintage – evinces yellow plum and pineapple, prickly pungency of citrus zest. On the palate, this exhibits brighter acidity than this year’s Klostergarten Eiswein, although butterscotch, white raisin and honey are also prominent. The result is a rather bifurcated personality, at least at present, something of a caramel apple, with a finish both candied in its sweetness (backed by 180 grams of residual sugar!) and bracingly sharp. Perhaps this will with time achieve some harmony or at least a less discordant dynamic, but given its huge concentration of sugar and acidity, one will have to wait more than a decade just to get a better handle on the wine’s long-term potential.Karl-Josef Loewen finds similarities in character between 2007 and 2002, which he illustrated with a now spectacular Thornicher Ritsch Spatlese, a wine I already admired in its youth, but about whose combination of botrytis and slight severity of acids I at that stage expressed slight concern. Still, I was not entirely convinced by the analogy, or by certain of Loewen’s 2007s. Few German growers I know are as sanguine about botrytis in general as he, and it certainly touched most of his wines in 2007, at times awkwardly.Importer:Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel (516) 677-9300