Picked around a week earlier than his corresponding dry wines of the vintage from the Laurentiuslay or Ritsch, Loewen’s 2010 Longuicher Maximiner Herrenberg Riesling trocken Alte Reben 1896 (for more about which bottling consult my comments in issue 192) is another formidably dense expression of its vintage, site and vines but one lacking the clarity or elegance that can accrue to any of these at their best. Smoky, crushed stone and citrus oil aromatics segue – joined by peach and musk melon – onto a full, oily-textured palate, its piquancy underscored by 12.5% alcohol in a heat-free but relatively bitterly persistent finish. I’d like to believe that this just needs time or was showing relatively obdurately on the sole occasion of our acquaintance (when I tasted it from two bottles), but I can’t find any reason to. I would monitor this carefully if planning to hold onto bottles for more than 3-4 years. “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 Longuicher Maximiner Herrenberg Riesling trocken Alte Reben 1896 – from Bruno Schmitt’s vines planted in that year (over whose large font inscription the rest of the wine’s label is superimposed) – displays less sheer power and intensity than its immediate predecessor and inaugural vintage, but Loewen takes that as a good sign, having intentionally tried to handle even these ancient vines and their soil so as to slow down their vigor and metabolic rate and to pick later at lower sugar. Winter pear, lightly-caramelized turnip, and white raspberry appear are subtly-tinged with salt and crushed stone and underlain by nut oils and a savory minerality akin to lobster shell reduction that left me salivating uncontrollably and panting for more. It’s clear that these two initial “1896” bottlings represent the beginning of a very distinguished line, and I suspect that if there is completely dry Mosel Riesling being crafted today that will be worth following for two decades, this will have served as exhibit A. 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