Winter squash, nutty fresh spinach and green herbs are key notes in Loewen’s 2010 Riesling Quant, which like last year’s edition weighs in at 11.5% alcohol and a couple of grams in excess of the legal limit for Trockenheit. A waxy, almost silken texture and juicily citric, nutty, subtly saline and piquantly peach kernel-inflected persistence make for an ingratiating if understated performance that ought to prove versatile at table over the next several years. (By contrast, this year’s oily-textured dry Riesling Varidor displayed overtly bitter phenolics and an overall sense of severity, notwithstanding its considerable flavor interest; while alkalinity and piquant fruit pit and toasted grain notes lent considerable austerity to Loewen’s 2010 Riesling trocken Alte Reben, a characteristic underscored by the wine’s 12.5% alcohol.) “Nobody knew what to do” in the fall of 2010, maintains Karl-Josef Loewen, “because nobody had every witnessed anything like such a vintage.” He took all but a few of his musts down by one and a half grams of acid using calcium carbonate, which still left them plenty high. “I suspect that if you analyze my wines this year – just as with many classic Mosel Rieslings of a bygone era – you’ll find that some harbor a bit of lactic acid; but I did nothing to encourage malo and none of my wines experienced any profound malo-lactic transformation. What’s more, given the low acidity we are expecting in 2011, I would not want to be one of those growers who invited malo-lactic bacteria to have the run of my cellar. But this much is certain,” he adds: “if you had green, under-ripe aromas in the must this year, then you were never going to get rid of them by any means.” Loewen tends to welcome botrytis, and I can’t help wondering whether that has proven the Achilles heel for some of his drier 2010s, for which berries are generally crushed (this year at times foot-trodden) and given up to 12 hours of skin contact before pressing, techniques that, he acknowledges, should generally presuppose essentially healthy fruit.Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

Loewen’s 2009 Riesling Quant evinces salted, caraway- and bacon-laced yellow tomato and under-ripe apricot for an effect reminiscent of a Gewurztraminer and Riesling blend. The palate impression here though displays a fresh acidity and stony underlying cast that can only spell “Mosel Riesling.” At 11.5% alcohol and 11 grams of residual sugar, it tastes entirely dry and displays welcome levity, and Loewen has at least trained his private customers to the point where they will overlook the absence of “trocken” as an imprimatur of quality. (I write “at least,” because he says they are still wary, and few of them are willing to discover the pleasures of a wine with overt sweetness.) Plan to enjoy this over the next 2-3 years. Karl-Josef Loewen’s general approach – to as he puts it “make little wine from many bunches, rather than little wine from few bunches” – fits the relatively generous 2009 vintage well in principle, provided however – as he is quick to point out – one let the fruit hang long enough. “The temptation is strong – and it’s common on the Mosel – to treat (read: charcoal-fine) the botrytized musts,” notes Loewen, “be we didn’t do anything this year, and I really think that was the wisest decision I have ever made.” (Incidentally, the trio of upper-Pradikat wines of this collection for which suggested retail prices are not noted will, according to importer Terry Theise, be made available in the U.S. for any merchants whose fancy they take.)Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

Loewen’s dry-finishing 2008 Riesling Quant (named for a local expression denoting satisfaction) features grapefruit, yellow plum, and kumquat in a pungent, bright aromatic and palate amalgam; a satiny feel; practically sizzling citrus zest and wood smoke impingement; but also refreshing, succulent juiciness. This should prove worth working with over at least the next 3-4 years, but its pronouncedly bitter and pungent personality will call for careful pairing. Karl-Josef Loewen associates the measurably high dry extracts of his 2008s with their ability to buffer high acids but also to convey mineral characteristics. He was pleased to point out that not one of his dry wines reached 12% alcohol this vintage, and only partly on account of that vintage itself. Especially with his oldest vines, pruning for multiple short canes and de-leafing at critical junctures are among the techniques being employed to diminish the accretion of sugar and maximize flavor. Small berries and clusters are also critical, says Loewen, who does not believe in green harvesting. “The trick,” he opines, “is to make little wine from many bunches, rather than little wine from few bunches.”Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

The 2006 Riesling Quant (at 11.5% alcohol and 11 grams residual sugar – for you tech freaks) is named for a local expression of unknown derivation signifying one’s satisfaction, and indeed s’ist quant! This was also the closest his 2006 harvest came to botrytis-free, says Loewen. Refreshing and diverse citrus and pungent herbs inform a substantial yet by no means heavy palate, finishing with salts and wet stone, herb, citrus, and white peach. Enjoy this over the next 7-9 years, I’d say. (On the one hand, few will hold it that long; on the other, the track record is not yet in place and it may well be a longer keeper.) 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

Omen est nomen when it comes to Loewen’s 2005 Riesling “Quant” (referring to an expression in local dialect signifying one’s complete satisfaction). Lemon, kumquat, apple, and brine aromas are followed by a fine-grained, concentrated, citrus- and mineral-dominated palate, with eleven grams residual sugar supporting the fruit and keeping the wine on the harmonious side of austerity. A convincingly long, refreshing finish of citrus, mineral salts and wet stone invigorates and invites the next sip. Also recommended: 2005 Riesling Alte Reben ($ unknown; 84+?), 2005 Detzemer Maximiner Klosterlay Riesling “Christopher’s Wine” ($ unknown; 85+?), 2005 Leiwener Laurentiuslay Riesling Beerenauslese (unavailable; 86).Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel (516) 677-9300