The Loosen 2008 Bernkasteler Lay Riesling trocken smells of kirsch and wet stone, with a faintly reductive, sweaty, saline overtone. In contrast with the experimental “Satyricus” bottling, this weighs in at 12.5% alcohol and fails to capture the special sense of lift and vivacity that is possible this vintage even in the realm of trocken. (The corresponding Wehlener – at 13% alcohol – suffered more in that respect.) That said, there is a succulent sense of fresh apple tinged with slate and cherry pit and satisfying length in this Riesling I would plan to enjoy over the next 3-5 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