NOTE: Post updated Thursday, January 5

Attention Riesling fans in Portland, Oregon (USA)!

This Friday, January 6, Dr. Loosen winemaker Erni Loosen and Loosen Bros VP Kirk Wille will be at WineStock wine bar in Oregon City, to help you enjoy a flight of lovely wines.

Date: Friday, January 6
Time: 5- 9 pm (Erni will arrive at about 6 pm)
Where: WineStock wine bar, 820 Main Street, Oregon City, OR
Tasting Fee: $12 for five wines

THE WINES

Dr. L Sparkling Riesling

Dr. Loosen Red Slate Dry Riesling 2010

Dr. Loosen Blue Slate Riesling Kabinett 2010

Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese 2010

Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese 2010

WineStock owners Sarrah and Carlos Torres have made their wine bar a destination for thirsty locals who appreciate not having to drive into Portland for their evening fun. (And for all you non-locals, it’s worth a tiny trip to Oregon City. Get on out there!) They also feature local artists and musicians.

If you’re anywhere nearby, come on out to WineStock this Friday, taste some great wines and hang with us! Cheers!

From time to time we like to profile our distributors in this blog so you can get to know the talented and hard-working people who make sure our wines reach stores, wine bars, restaurants and, ultimately, wine lovers. With that in mind, we’re pleased to introduce you to Selected Brands, our USA distributor in the state of Florida.

(left to right) Shai and Terri Froelich of Selected Brands, Erni Loosen and Loosen Bros. USA’s SE Sales Manager, Sarah Noble, at the Miami Culinary Experience

A family-owned company, Selected Brands represents a number of family-owned wineries. They specialize in fine wine and food pairing, customized wine lists, as well as staff training and education.

Selected Brands recently was joined by Advanced Sommelier John Mayfield (the former sommelier at db Bistro Moderne in Miami). John is their new corporate director of education.

Erni teaching a class on Riesling at the Miami Culinary Institute

Erni taught a Riesling class at the Miami Culinary Institute, helping attendees to understand the versatility and breadth of Rieslings and the terroir of the Mosel Valley.

Happy attendees at the Miami Culinary Experience in October 2011

Plans are already in the works for more events in 2012, so if you’re a Florida wine lover or member of the trade, stay tuned!

Erni and Terri at the Dr. Loosen estate in Germany’s Mosel Valley

Shai and Terri’s talented sons, Mitch and Dylan Froelich, display their bottle art. See more of their design work at www.froelichbrothers.com

Visit the Selected Brands website.

Happy New Year from all of us at Dr. Loosen! And what a year it’s been! Here’s a brief look back at 2011.

* Winemaker Erni Loosen traveled the globe making new friends and meeting Riesling fans everywhere he went.

* We met many fresh faces from the next generation of wine lovers at Wine Riots.

* We made excellent progress on construction of the beautiful new J. Christopher Winery and Appassionata Vineyard in Newberg, Oregon (USA), and hosted tastings on Labor Day and Thanksgiving Oregon wine tour weekends.

* We were delighted to welcome famed Burgundy producer Nicolas Potel to the Loosen Bros. USA “Friends of Erni” portfolio.

* Our booth at the New York Wine Experience was big fun and a great opportunity to meet our New York fans.

* We were honored to be named to–and staff our table at–the Wine & Spirits Top 100 Tasting.

* We were thrilled to receive a fistful of medals at the 2011 Decanter Wine Awards.

* Hosting the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group’s visit to our Dr. Loosen Winery in the Mosel was a pleasure.

* We thoroughly enjoyed the worldwide expansion of Terroir Wine Bar’s Summer of Riesling You rock, Paul Grieco!

If you think 2011 was exciting, just wait until you see what we have in store for 2012! Here’s a taste of what’s coming up in the new year:

* As of Jan. 1, 2012, Loosen Bros. USA will be the sole U.S. importer for the amazing wines of Dr. Carl von Schubert, from his Maximin Grünhaus estate.

* Hope to see you in Sydney on Feb 6 & 7 at the Frankland Estate International Riesling Tasting.

* More Travels With Erni, our globetrotting ambassador of wonderful wines!

And now let us finish up 2011 with our New Year’s Resolution

(to paraphrase our friends at Second Glass/Wine Riot) “Drink more Riesling!”

Oh, and “Drink more Pinot Noir, too!”

All the best to you and yours in the coming year from all of us at Dr. Loosen, Loosen Bros. USA, J. Christopher and everyone in the Friends of Erni portfolio. Cheers!

We are honored and thrilled to announce that, as of Jan. 1, 2012, Loosen Bros. USA will be the sole U.S. importer for the amazing wines of Dr. Carl von Schubert, from his Maximin Grünhaus estate.

Carl von Schubert, Erni Loosen and Loosen Bros. USA VP Kirk Wille toasting their agreement (with Dr. Loosen Riesling Sekt, of course!) at Erni’s home in Bernkastel.

Even though they are required to label their wines with the “Mosel” appellation, we all know that their little Ruwer valley is a special place all its own. Their naturally fermented, terroir-driven wines (and their unmistakable art deco label) are so distinctive that we don’t think there’s any way they will be confused with the other Rieslings that Loosen Bros. USA imports.

Carl von Schubert
Carl von Schubert is the fifth generation of his family to own the estate, which produces exceptionally distinctive wines and is a perennial favorite among wine lovers and Riesling experts around the world. As an internationally prominent producer of top-quality Rieslings, Carl naturally found a good friend in Erni Loosen, an ardent admirer of the Maximin Grünhaus wines.

Here’s what Erni Loosen says about them: “The Grünhaus wines have a totally unique taste. They really capture the special terroir of the Ruwer valley and are quite unlike anything we produce in the Middle Mosel. They are truly extraordinary wines and we’re extremely happy to be working with Carl in the U.S. market.”

Carl von Schubert says: “I was very excited when Ernst Loosen suggested to me that Maximin Grünhaus could become part of his U.S. portfolio. Having the same philosophy of quality and being friends is the best possible basis for a successful cooperation.”

Estate Dates Back to A.D. 966
The Maximin Grünhaus estate lies at the foot of a long, steep, south-facing slope of wholly owned vineyards on the left bank of the tiny Ruwer river, about two kilometers before it joins the Mosel. Viticulture has been practiced there since Roman times. The estate was first documented in A.D. 966, when it was owned by the Benedictine monastery of St. Maximin, in the nearby city of Trier. It was secularized by Napoleon in the early 1800s and acquired by the von Schubert family in 1882.

Friends of Erni Loosen Portfolio
Here at Loosen Bros. USA, we’re very much looking forward to having the von Schuberts join our little family of producers. It’s what we call the “Friends of Erni Loosen” portfolio, which now includes:

About Loosen Bros. USA
Loosen Bros. USA is the sole U.S. importer of the wines of celebrated Riesling producer Ernst (Erni) Loosen, including Dr. Loosen (in Germany’s Mosel valley) and J.L. Wolf (in the Pfalz). Loosen Bros. also offers a select group of extraordinary wines made by good friends of Erni Loosen in other regions of Germany, as well as Switzerland, France and the United States. Loosen Bros. USA is based in Oregon City, Oregon. For more information, please visit www.loosenbrosusa.com.