The estate is located in the village of Winningen in the Mosel wine-growing region in Germany. It is owned by Cornelia Heymann-Löwenstein and Reinhard Löwenstein. Reinhard Löwenstein is one of the most highly regarded winemakers in Germany, and is often described as the „rebel from the Mosel“, as he has committed himself to an extreme philosophy of high quality for the past few decades. He coined the phrase “Terrassenmosel“. This describes the most northely section of the lower Mosel valley, which is characterised by extremely steep terraced vienyards. Löwenstein is fully committed to the idea of terroir, and, in his owns words, makes his wines so that „the creative synthesis of soils, vines, microclimate and the abilities of the winemaker can be concentrated in a unique, authentic sensory experience of the wines“. The vineyard area totals 14 hectares, and is planted almost exclusively with Riesling. Only the very best wines from the Röttgen and Uhlen vineyards in Winningen, as well as of the Kirchberg and Stolzenberg vineyards in Hatzenport, all of which are classified Grand Cru (Erste Lage) vineyards, are labelled as vineyard-specific wines. Botrytis dessert wines have also been produced since the early 1990’s. The 1994 Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese attained cult status, and is one of the most expensive wines ever made on the Mosel. Bottle-fermented sparkling wines and grappa-style spirits are also produced. The estate is a member of the VDP (Verband deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitäts-Weingüter) association.
Genial Reinhard Löwenstein has put in a tremendous amount of effort to create an absolute masterpiece from the 2000 vintage. Of course, the noble sweet wines show quite prominent botrytis, but in contrast to most other Auslese wines of the vintage they also have lots of juicy fruit and a firm mineral structure. They have all been made with a long maturation period in mind, but are also very enjoyable for drinking now. Here the piéce de resistance is a masterful Beerenauslese that completely overwhelms you with cascades of juicy fruit. Even the TBA does not quite reach this intensity. This is a clear victory for terroir, rather than must weight! Talking about terroir: there are few other producers along the Mosel who produce single-vineyard wines of the highest quality with the level of dedication shown by Löwenstein. A new addition to the range in this respect is the Riesling from the Hatzenporter Stolzenberg, and I must admit to having a few problems with the maiden vintage. Having twice tasted it blind I am certain that this is a very good dry wine, but I believe that even with further maturation it will not quite achieve the quality level of the other three vineyard-labelled Rieslings. The Kirchberg wine, also from Hatzenport, is also made in quite a tart style, but is significantly better. The two Rieslings from the Winningen sites are in a class of their own. The Röttgen, with its gripping mineral character and tremendous structure is already totally captivating, and yet the monumental wine from the Uhlen vineyard tops even this. This is possibly the greatest dry Mosel Riesling of all times, and has power, complexity, density and structure such as you would consider impossible anywhere in the world when combined with such a low level of alcohol. This wine makes a total mockery of a quality system that is based exclusively on the sugar content of the grapes at harvest time. Two excellent basic estate Rieslings make up the perfect finish to the Range of the Year from the Mosel region!
The range 0f 1999 wines presented is of remarkable and even first-class quality throughout. Even the basic wines are impressive in their concentration and structure. The first growths are concentrated, some showing prominent spicy terroir-based notes, and are all among the very best dry Rieslings produced in the Mosel region this year. Most of these wines will only realise their full potential in a year or two. The crowning glory of the range this time is the crisp Auslese from the Röttgen vineyard.
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