Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Auslese Nr49
⏳ Drinking Window
2020 - 2045
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Rich blue cheeses such as Roquefort, classic foie gras or savory duck liver pate, and spicy Sichuan or Thai cuisine like Thai or Sichuan dishes.
✨ Technical Specifications
Hailing from the gravity-defying, amphitheater-like slopes of the Mosel, the Urziger Wurzgarten (literally 'spice garden of Urzig') is one of Germany's most legendary vineyards. Unlike the blue slate soils common to the region, the Wurzgarten is defined by a striking, iron-rich red volcanic soil and slate mix. This unique terroir imparts a famously exotic, spicy, and tropical character to the Riesling. Dr. Loosen's Auslese Nr49 is a masterclass in this terroir, crafted from late-harvested, botrytis-affected grapes meticulously selected by hand. The estate, led by the visionary Ernst Loosen, utilizes traditional Fuder (1,000-liter oak casks) fermentation to preserve the vibrant acidity and deep mineral core of these ancient, ungrafted vines, creating a wine of intense concentration, luscious sweetness, and fiery complexity.
🍾 About the Producer
Weingut Dr. Loosen stands as one of the preeminent global ambassadors of Germany's Mittelmosel. Under family ownership for more than two centuries, the estate experienced an epochal renaissance after Ernst 'Erni' Loosen assumed leadership in 1988. Loosen immediately implemented draconian yield restrictions, prohibited chemical fertilizers, and embraced spontaneous fermentations in neutral oak Fuder casks, frequently practicing extended lees contact. The domaine's strength rests in its holdings of ancient, ungrafted vines—many over a century old—clinging to perilous, south-facing slate amphitheaters. These steep slopes span blue Devonian slate in the Wehlener Sonnenuhr, red volcanic-slate colluvium in the Ürziger Würzgarten, and heat-retaining cliffs in the Erdener Prälat. Dr. Loosen is renowned both for crystalline, classically delicate Prädikat expressions defined by buoyant acidity and low alcohol, and for benchmark dry Grosses Gewächs bottlings that celebrate age-worthy, mineral-driven tension.