Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling GG Reserve Alte Reben
⏳ Drinking Window
2024 - 2042
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Spicy Asian dishes such as Thai red curry, roasted pork belly with five-spice, or pan-seared scallops with ginger-butter sauce.
✨ Technical Specifications
The Urziger Wurzgarten, or 'spice garden of Urzig,' is one of the Mosel's most iconic vineyards, famous for its striking red volcanic sandstone and slate soils that stand in stark contrast to the region's typical blue slate. This unique terroir imparts a famously exotic, spicy character to the 100% Riesling grapes grown here. Dr. Loosen's Grosses Gewachs (GG) Reserve Alte Reben is sourced from extremely old, ungrafted vines—some over a century old—which yield tiny, highly concentrated berries. Embracing historical winemaking traditions, winemaker Ernst Loosen ages this dry Reserve wine on its full yeast lees for an astonishing 24 months in traditional, neutral oak Fuder casks, followed by additional bottle aging. This patient process tempers the vineyard's fiery acidity, resulting in a dry Riesling of monumental complexity, seamless texture, and profound mineral depth.
🍾 About the Producer
The historic Dr. Loosen estate has been in the Loosen family for over two centuries, situated along the dramatic, slate-lined slopes of the Middle Mosel in Bernkastel-Kues, Germany. Since taking over management in 1988, Ernst Loosen has revitalized the winery by strictly focusing on low yields, meticulous vineyard stewardship, and minimal intervention in the cellar. The estate is blessed with extraordinarily old, ungrafted Riesling vines in legendary Grand Cru (Grosse Lage) vineyards such as Erdener Prälat, Wehlener Sonnenuhr, and Bernkasteler Lay. Dr. Loosen is globally celebrated for producing pure, expressive, and age-worthy Rieslings that range from vibrant dry bottlings to lusciously complex, mineral-laced Prädikat and dessert wines.