Dr. Loosen is one German riesling producer that U.S. critics seem to love, particularly his spatlese and auslese wines, which tend to garner high scores. I’m a little unclear why so many U.S. magazines almost never rate dry old world riesling, and when they do, they don’t give such wines the same level of hype as the sweeter versions. And, there are sweet wines and then there are sugar dominated wines. This is a wine that, while sweet, is also balanced and clean. And, while made in an unctuous style, even more so than many other auslese’s (which refers to the ripeness of the grapes in the wine), there is still a lightness of step here that keeps the wine on the fresher side, although not quite so far as others.

The nose here had pineapple, mango, papaya and guava – a veritable tropical fruit salad. The palate continued with papaya, manga, pineapple, guava, petrol, minerals, date, apricot, prune and some candied citrus. There is amazing lightness to this wine, and balance, despite its fullness and the extreme ripeness of the grapes. It is, in fact, one of the nicest ausleses I’ve tasted so long as you are in the mood for something rich and sweet. I do think that the sheer viscosity of the wine does fatigue the palate after a while, however, and I would mark that as this wine’s big negative. Otherwise, very tasty. The Wine Spectator scored this a 95 – a rather high score in my opinion.

Very Good+
$55 at BCLDB

I’ve mentioned this before, but I simply can’t get over the ease at which one can pick up excellent provenance aged wines for good prices in California. It provides the impatient wine lover with an immediate outlet for experiencing what usually takes fortitude. But, I suppose that is the American way.

The nose on this was very petrolly, but also incredibly deep. I also detected vanilla and a little peach. This has a significant mid-palate that may have been tempered with age. By that I mean the sweetness levels are significantly less than what I’d expect for a full blown non-trocken (dry) Spatlese. The wine is layered and nuanced and slightly effervescent with grapefruit, peach and nectarine predominating. Also, at 7.5% ABV, you can down a whole bottle, which I did with some excellent Thai food. Diel, like Donnhoff, resides in the Nahe region of Germany, and I can say that I am building a very strong appreciation for rieslings from that particular pin on the map.

Very Good+
$40 at K&L

I’ve sampled several Donnhoff’s now – enough to convince me that with the right producer German Riesling can soar. This example, however, was a bit disappointing, while still being very well made. The nose on this was standard grapefruit and minerals, with the palate offering more grapefruit, lime, and river stones. Nice and soft in the mouth, this Riesling was simple and good, but not at the level of the Estate riesling or the Kabinett reviewed previously. I think Grosset does a better job with dry Riesling at this price point.

Very Good+
$33 at BCLDB

I had this on the same night as the Roslack to compare something at 1/4 of the price. I wanted to get a sense of whether the Roslack was that far superior to an already respect but much more reasonably priced riesling, this time from the Mosel region.

The Loosen Auslese had a nose of classic petrol, minreal and citrus. This was not nearly as complex as the Roslack. Neither was the palate, with whipped cream, trifle, peach and pineapple flushing the palate with dessert-like intensity. I found the sweetness handled less well in this compared to the Roslack, with it being more toffee-like and sticky. The Roslack, on the other hand, had the delicate touch of a properly sweetened dessert from a high-end restaurant. So, despite not being as balanced, well structured, or delicately perfumed as the Roslack, this was still pretty tasty. However, it is not something I would drink that often.

Very Good+
$55 at BCLDB