You can’t say the Loosen Reserve wines are something new, because as Ernie Loosen describes them, “We are concentrating more on reserve wines, as my great great grandfather did, wines that age for 6 or 8 years. We’ve done a lot of experiments on aging. We ferment and then keep the wine in the barrel as they did in the old days. They had to do it like this, because they had no technology, filtering, fining etc. We discovered that if you do it the old way the wines come together more naturally and seem to have much more ageability.”

The Reserves come only from the best lieu-dits in grand cru (Grosse Lage) vineyards. They spend two years in barrel (the barrels are topped up every month) and three in bottle before release. (There have also been wines that have aged much longer in barrel.) Production is 200 cases each of Sonnenuhr and Würzgarten, just over half that for Prälat.

The special character of these wines is due not only to the aging process, but also to selection in the vineyard. “They are specifically selected only from the millerandaged fruit (with very small seedless berries resulting from incomplete fertilization); the normal berries go into the Grosses Gewächs.”

The extended aging shows another side of  Riesling. Ernie describes it as a more Burgundian style, and indeed it is intense and deep and textured rather than light and racy. We tasted the three current releases, the 2015 vintage (released (May 1 this year).

Wehlener Sonnenuhr (Im Laychen) shows a sense of austerity compared to the regular release. There is not only more intensity to the palate but also more counterpoise or herbal notes against the fruits with herbal notes. A greater sense of texture to the palate, makes this really deep. Acidity and sugar are integrated to the point that it seems dry.

Ürziger Würtzgarten (Unterst Pichter) is  restrained on the nose. The palate intensifies the spicy herbal impression of Würtzgarten, especially evident on the finish, and the deeply textured palate gives impression of austerity. Beautifully integrated acidity and sugar to point that I would take it for dry in blind tasting.

Erdener Prälat (Alte Reben) comes from 120-year old ungrafted vines. This is intense, a little spicy, very textured, all stone fruits here, really showing mostly as peaches, but the fruits are into the secondary phase showing some maturity. The palate is cut by the sense of austerity on the finish. It can only deepen and strengthen.

Stefan Doktor at Schloss Johannisberg has had a similar idea. “I had a crazy idea and said, what would happen if we aged the wine like they used to a hundred years ago,” he says.  “Riesling aged in wood for a long time expresses itself in a new way.” The Gold Label was introduced last year with the 2017 vintage. It ferments in 1,200 liter fuder and ages for 6 months on the full lees, then racking to age on fine lees for another 24 months.”

This may be the forerunner of a movement to age Riesling longer. The Rheingau VDP has just decided to require Grosses Gewächs to age one year longer before release. The 2020 vintage is the last that can be released on September 1 in the year following the vintage. Future vintages will have to wait a further 12 months before release. However, the regulation does not require any particular model for aging: the wine could rest in barrel or tank for the extra year or could be bottled at the same time as before and just wait out the delay. Even in the latter case, this is likely to mean a change in appreciation as Grosses Gewächs can be really restrained and backward on release, and a year’s extra aging in bottle usually makes a significant difference to approachability.