Wine & Spirits - February 2021 - 66

Year's Best Mosel Rieslings
90 | Meulenhof

$23

2019 Mosel Erdner Treppchen Riesling
Spätlese Feinherb (Best Buy) ^ This is wild
and jaunty, a riesling riding a line between
sweet lime fruit and bitter zest, with lots of
spice carried on its nervy acidity. It wants
food as vibrant and earthy in flavor as its
own, like Chinese vegetable dumplings showered with crispy sautéed garlic, ginger, scallions and cilantro. § Skurnik Wines & Spirits,
NY
280927

90 | Dr. Pauly Bergweiler

$28

2019 Mosel Wehlener Sonnenuhr Ries-
ling Spätlese (Best Buy) ^ Plump with floral,
peachy fruit and creamy in texture, this is a
generous Spätlese. A crisp apple acidity keeps
everything fresh and on point, balanced for
aperitifs or for spicy stir-fries of salted black
beans and vegetables. § Winesellers, Niles, IL
280999

90 | Weingut St. NikolausHospital

$32

2019 Mosel Brauneberger Juffer Son-
nenuhr Cardinal Cusanus Stiftswein
Riesling Spätlese ^ The wine arm of a socialservice institution that dates to 1465, St.
Nikolaus-Hospital farms 37 acres at some
of the Middle Mosel's most prestigious sites.
This one comes from the tenderloin of the
Juffer, where the ample sun inspired the
placement of the sundial (Sonnenuhr). It
channels that warmth in peach-pie flavors,
warm, lush and inviting, and counters them
with a touch of tea-like bitterness. It's a confident wine, ready to pair with roast duck or
goose. § Kysela Père et Fils, Winchester, VA
280980

90 | Zilliken

$64

88 | Julius Treis

$29

2019 Mosel Rausch Riesling Spätlese ^ Concentrated notes of peach and apricot take on
an almost oily texture, but its Saar acidity
keep the wine moving, brisk and persistent.
The flavors linger on mineral notes, bringing
the wine to a savory close. § Loosen Bros. USA,
Oregon City, OR
280968
2015 Mosel Mullay Hofberg Riesling Spät-
lese (Best Buy) ^ This is clean and restrained,
the flavors in the key of green, like nettles
and tea, over a mineral base. It feels youthful for a five-year-old wine, as if age simply
brought calm. For Japanese dishes, like tempura-fried root vegetables. § Artisanal Cellars,
White River Junction, VT

WINE & SPIRITS

FEBRUARY 2021

AUSLESE

97 | Dr. Loosen

for minutes after each sip. It transmits an
early-morning freshness in its cool honeysuckle notes and clean earthy notes, making
it refreshing despite all the concentration. §
Loosen Bros. USA, Oregon City, OR
280878

$64/375ml

2018 Mosel Erdener Prälat Riesling Aus-
lese Goldkapsel ^ In the warm, dry vintage
of 2018, Ernst Loosen came through with a
string of incredible Auslese wines, with Prälat
leading the way. Grown on a south-facing
slope that towers steeply over the Mosel, the
vines planted more than 100 years ago, the
wine is drenched in sunny flavor. It sings in
high-tenor tones of lemon, pineapple, peach,
apricot and honey, each note ringing out
with bell-like clarity; the acidity holds those
notes in an endless fermata, the wine vibrating as if charged with sound waves. Harmonious and elegant, each sip of this wine lasts
so long-with so much to say-that 375 milliliters of it can last a long time. § Loosen Bros.
USA, Oregon City, OR
280950

97 | Selbach-Oster

$56

2019 Mosel Zeltinger Himmelreich
Anrecht Riesling Auslese ^ Since 2003,
Johannes Selbach has been experimenting
with picking a parcel of vines all at once,
combining grapes at different ripeness levels
rather than selecting them out for different
Prädikat bottlings. It's an old way of making
wine, and one that makes a lot of sense when
you taste a wine like this 2019. From a sliver
of the Zeltinger Himmelreich vineyard with
deep, loamy slate soils, it adorns strident,
cool mineral tones with a riot of succulent
flavors, from crunchy golden apple to meaty
yellow peach, apricot nectar and ginger preserves. An earthy turmeric-like spice runs
underneath, warm and golden. The wine
retains its vivacity and detail for days after
opening, suggesting this will live for years in
the cellar. § Skurnik Wines & Spirits, NY
280834

96 | Fritz Haag

$56/375ml

2019 Mosel Brauneberger Juffer Son-
nenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel ^ Dessert in a glass, this is intensely sweet, juicy
with flavors of drippy-ripe melon, honey
and tangerine. And yet the fruit lifts off the
tongue nearly instantaneously, transforming into head-filling fragrance that lasts

96 | Dr. Loosen

$64

96 | Selbach-Oster

$48

95 | Schloss Lieser

$89

95 | Dr. Loosen

$64

2018 Mosel Erdener Treppchen Riesling
Auslese ^ This comes from a vineyard named
for the ancient stone steps (Treppchen) built
into the steep red-clay slopes. Loosen's old
vines, rooted in these warm, sun-drenched
soils, produced a concentrated Auslese in
2018, with a meaty stone-fruit ripeness. It's
fresh, dark in tone, the fruit suffused with
a button-mushroom earthiness and spice
notes that make it feel rich rather than sweet.
The acidity is fantastic, strong enough to suggest pairing this with a savory dish, like roast
game. § Loosen Bros. USA, Oregon City, OR
280951
2019 Mosel Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling
Auslese** ^ " This must be a starred Auslese, " I
wrote in my notes after the sugar shock wore
off. This is intensely ripe and concentrated,
a cornucopia of fresh pineapple, clementine
and peach flavor. The sugar feels like it was
whipped into the wine, giving the texture
a creamy feel, and yet it remains fresh and
bright, with floral and herbal notes that lend
it a sense of delicacy and finesse. § Skurnik
Wines & Spirits, NY
280864
2019 Mosel Niederberg Helden Riesling
Auslese Goldkapsel ^ Niederberg Helden sits
right by the Mosel, its south-facing slope rising up from the river bank just past the town
of Lieser. The vines bathe in the reflected
sun off the Mosel, protected from drought
by the depth of the decomposed blue-slate
soils. They grew a focused, concentrated
gold-capped Auslese in 2019, honeyed and
rich with ripe apple, peach and pear notes,
the fruit studded with a sparkly acidity that
brings to mind the sun glinting off of minerals trapped in rocks. § Skurnik Wines & Spirits, NY
280877
2018 Mosel Urziger Würzgarten Riesling
Auslese ^ This delivers its sweet fruit with a
piercing clarity, mainlining flavors of lime,
litchi, pineapple and quince paste direct to
the pleasure receptors of the brain. A piecrust richness underlines the fruit, supplying structure, while spice and green tea-leaf
notes add a slight, relieving bitterness. It's
intense yet balanced, to be savored in small
sips. § Loosen Bros. USA, Oregon City, OR
280905

https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/dr+loosen+pralat+riesling+auslese+gold+cap+erdner+mosel+germany

Wine & Spirits - February 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - February 2021