Archive for January, 2011

Winemaker Dinner with Ernie Loosen at Aqua Blue, Roswell, GA

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

Where will you be on February 9?

If you’ll be in the vicinity of Roswell, Georgia, you can have a wonderful five-course dinner with Dr. Loosen’s winemaker, Ernie Loosen, at Aqua Blue Restaurant.

Here’s a list of the fab wines you’ll be tasting. Just click on any one of them to learn more.

2009 Villa Wolf Pinot Gris
2008 Eroica Riesling
2008 Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese
2008 J. Christopher Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills Cuvee
2007 Dr. Loosen Estate Riesling Eiswein

WHEN: Wed Feb 9
WHERE: Aqua Blue Restaurant 1564 Holcomb Bridge Rd, Roswell, GA 30076
TIME: 7 – 10 pm
PRICE: $80 per person

Click here to see the menu and wine pairings.

TO RESERVE YOUR SEAT: Call Brian Aqua Blue at 770.643.8886.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Ernie Loosen, Friends of Ernie Wines, j. christopher, Uncategorized | Comments Off

Riesling in Your Cellar: Dr. Loosen Erdener Treppchen

Tuesday, January 25th, 2011

As we’ve been talking lately about cellaring Riesling, we thought we’d introduce you to a few of ours that you may want to consider for your own cellar.

Erdener Treppchen (“The Little Staircase of Erden”).

The Erdener Treppchen (pronounced AIR-din-er TREP-shen) vineyard in Germany’s Mosel Valley is so steep that long ago, stone steps were built into the hillside to enable workers to reach the vines. Hence the name.

This vineyard was rated “First Vineyard” (“Erste Lage”) in the 1868 Prussian classification of the Mosel, and is rated “Great First-Class” in the Wine Atlas of Germany by Hugh Johnson & Stuart Pigott (1995).

The iron-rich, red slate soil produces wines that are muscular and complex, with an intense minerally finish. Wines from Erdener Treppchen are more like a powerful, hard-body rock climber (as opposed to the graceful ballet dancer that characterizes our Rieslings from Wehlener Sonnenuhr).

They benefit greatly from a few years in the bottle to develop fully, and therefore, would be a great addition to any cellar.

To help you decide, here are tasting notes for three of our Erdener Treppchen wines:

2009 DR. LOOSEN
ERDENER TREPPCHEN RIESLING KABINETT

[88] Wine Spectator Rich, with a fresh base of acidity
driving the peach, lime and mineral notes. Lively, balanced and enjoyable now for its primary fruit. Spectator online, 2010

[89] Wine Advocate Lemon, sassafras, and black tea pungent smokiness in the nose of Loosen’s 2009 Erdener Treppchen Riesling Kabinett lead to a polished, cooling display of herb, honey- dew melon, and citrus that finishes with effortless refresh- ment and whiff of smoke and a kiss of wet stone. Here is another little classic of its type apt to perform well for 15-20 years. December 2010

[91] The Tasting Panel Juicy and crisp with racy acidity and lovely peach and lime fruit; spritzy, long and tangy with refinement and style. November 2010

Restaurant Wine The Erdener is extremely floral in character; a supple, off dry, intensely flavored Kabinett (jasmine, lime, honeysuckle, pineapple) that is well balanced and very long on the finish. October 2010, Issues #135 & #136

2009 DR. LOOSEN
ERDENER TREPPCHEN RIESLING SPÄTLESE

[91] Wine Spectator Ripe and silky, delivering a floral aroma and peach cobbler, apricot and white berry flavors, with hints of chocolate. The mouthfilling finish is juicy and fresh. Dec. 15, 2010

[91] Wine Advocate The Loosen 2009 Erdener Treppchen Riesling Spatlese is richer, yet more delicate than the corresponding Kabinett, suggesting herbal liqueur, honeydew melon, and lusciously ripe citrus on a succulent, buoyant palate and with a delightfully persistent, infectiously juicy finish that introduces hints of nut oils and salted caramel. There should be 25 years of potential pleasure packed into bottles of this. December 2010

[17] JancisRobinson.com Very intense, quite stern nose with real density. Very explosively fruity on the palate. Chalky finish in terms of texture. 2010

[91] Mosel Fine Wines This wine offers a very attractive smoky touch on the nose, with some white fruits and spices. Good firm zesty acidity nicely balances out the comparatively rich texture on the palate, giving some Spätlese character to this otherwise powerful wine. The finish is pure, very slick and quite long. It is still aromatically closed but should develop well with some aging. October 2010

2009 DR. LOOSEN
ERDENER TREPPCHEN RIESLING AUSLESE

[90] Wine Advocate Musk melon, peach, and pungent peat and brown spices on the nose of Loosen’s 2009 Erdener Treppchen Riesling Auslese suggest noble botrytis to a greater extend than did the corresponding Wehlener, an impression reinforced by a honeyed, faintly oily feel on the palate, where juicy fresh lime and tangerine keep things refreshing. Picked around a week later than the corresponding Wehlener, this should delight for a good quarter-century, and may well become more interesting in the process without losing its sensual appeal. December 2010

[92] Mosel Fine Wines This is driven by yellow peach, pineapple cake, orange peel and marzipan on the nose and offers a most stunning balance on the palate, with great aromatic integration and purity. The wine leaves a direct and firm sensation of richness and spice in the finish with a soft acidic backbone. This should develop into a beauty! October 2010

Read more about Dr. Loosen Erdener Treppchen.
Find out where to buy it for your cellar.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Erdener Treppchen, riesling, Uncategorized | Comments Off

Drinking Your Cellared Riesling

Monday, January 10th, 2011

holiday-wineWelcome to our third post in our “Riesling in Your Cellar” series.

So, we’ve talked about why you should cellar Rieslings, and a little bit about how to add them to your cellar. Let’s now turn to the really fun topic… drinking your cellared Rieslings.

There are just a few things to keep in mind when you’re ready to open one of your cellared treasures.

1. Older Rieslings require more time in the glass to show well. Give it some time to open up, just as you would an old Bordeaux. Riesling likes a slow pace. It is slow to ripen, it often ferments at a nearly glacial pace, it develops slowly in the bottle and it wants time in the glass. This is no time to be in a hurry. Linger, revisit, ponder and marvel at the wonder of this elegant grape.

2. Mature Rieslings are terrific when paired with food. With their deeper, fuller texture and nuanced flavors, they come into wonderful accord with traditional Continental cuisine. Don’t be afraid to try them with meat dishes and rich sauces. They also pair beautifully with modern cuisines that focus on purity of flavor and fresh, local ingredients.

As always, let your palate be your guide. But free your mind of the conventional wisdom and give your palate a chance to develop and grow right along with the Rieslings in your cellar.

Cheers and stay tuned for our next post: Resources to help you find good Rieslings to cellar.

Have questions about cellaring Riesling? Post them on our Facebook page.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

Five Tips for Stocking Your Cellar with Riesling

Friday, January 7th, 2011

wine-cellar-horizontalToday we continue our blog series “Riesling in Your Cellar” with a few tips on stocking your own wine cellar with Riesling.

1. There’s a lot of wine out there and, as you know, most of it is not built to last. Stick with good vintages from great vineyards and reliable producers, and you can hardly go wrong.

2. Many less-than legendary wines can age well for mid-term drinking, and can be quite affordable. As with an investment portfolio, you want to be diversified, with some wines you can drink young (because they are delicious when fresh and fruity), some to drink in five to seven years, and others to lay down for the long haul.

3. Follow your own palate and don’t worry about making a mistake. There’s no need to get all worked up because some wine magazine says a certain Riesling will only be good to drink from 2005 to 2011. It’s not going to expire on February 1. It’s just the wine writer’s estimate. Most attempts to predict how wines will develop are purely speculative.

4. You can be a little more sure with the long-established estates of Germany, but overall it’s a lot of guesswork. If you get excited by seeing how wines change over time, by all means, tuck some of your favorite young Rieslings away and see for yourself.

5. To give your cellar a kick-start, get some mature Rieslings from reputable retailers who know their value.

Remember, unlike a stock portfolio, the success of your Riesling cellar isn’t going to determine your quality of life in retirement. It will only enhance it, bringing endless pleasure and the joy of discovery. An occasional disappointment will only make you appreciate the true gems all the more.

Coming this Monday: Drinking Your Cellared Rieslings

Tags: , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

Riesling in Your Cellar

Wednesday, January 5th, 2011

cellarIt is always surprising to us how firmly entrenched the conventional wisdom can become in the public mind.

For most wine drinkers, the idea of a mature wine conjures up the image of an old red wine gathering dust in some artistocrat’s damp and moldy cellar. The notion that Riesling could age as long, or longer, receives not one synaptic pulse in the collective brain.

(We blame television, where rare wines are always 1929 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild.)

The fact is, many Rieslings will cellar beautifully.

As they age, they become more subtle, complex and expressive of their terroir, with developed flavors coming to the fore that no young wine can provide.

And where young Rieslings pair wonderfully with spicy Asian and Indian foods, aged Rieslings really come into their own when paired with classic European cuisine, especially wild game.

Don’t be afraid to try them with meat dishes and rich sauces. These mature gems also pair beautifully with modern cuisines that focus on purity of flavor and fresh, local ingredients.

Want to learn more about cellaring Rieslings? Over the next week or so we’ll be taking a closer look at cellaring with advice and practical tips you can use.

Look for our upcoming post this Friday on how to stock your Riesling cellar.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

A Bit About Ernie & Dr. Loosen Rieslings from Fine Wine in Nevada

Monday, January 3rd, 2011

Well, here we are in 2011, and we’re ready to make this a great year for wine!

To start us off, here’s a little piece about Ernie Loosen, written by one of our distributors, Ira Harmon, M.S., for the Southern Wine & Spirits newsletter “Fine Wine in Nevada”. Enjoy!

I remember coming to Las Vegas and doing my first winemaker dinner with about 12 somms back in 2000. Ernst Loosen came in and we did a dinner with Jean Louis Palladin at the Napa Restaurant in the Rio. The food was simply amazing with every course coming out in a container and being poured in a bowl except the last which was his short ribs. The wines went exceeding well with the surprise of the evening being a 1947 Kabinett.

Ernst Loosen took over for his father in 1988. He had crafted his trade all over the world, making wine in Austria, Burgundy, Alsace and California after he attended winemaking school in Geisenheim, Germany. When he took over, he realized that he had some very old vines that, with a little attention to both the growing and winemaking, would make world class wines.

He did not have to wait long. In 1989, Ernst won Riesling of the Year from the group Feinschmecker. In 2001, he won Gault-Millau German Winemaker of the Year and in 2005, Decanter make him their Man of the Year.

Ernst’s style is very typical of the Mosel. High acid wines balanced with just the correct amount of sugar. The fruit explodes on the palate. Ernst makes a very easy to enjoy wine with his second label called “Dr. L”. My travels this year took me to the Mosel. You should buy any or all of his 2009 wines and other than the aforementioned wine, put them in a cellar for a decade! He has another project in the Pfalz under the J. L Wolf label and a new partnership in Oregon called J. Christopher, which is making Oregon Sauvignon Blanc and a very delicious Pinot Noir.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off