2018 Bernkastel JOHANNISBRÜNNCHEN Riesling Grosses Gewächs Q.b.A. trocken Dr. Loosen, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer (0,75l)

Vinous - 2018 Bernkastel JOHANNISBRÜNNCHEN Riesling Grosses Gewächs Q.b.A. trocken, Dr. Loosen

Dark, piquantly pit-inflected cherry and seedy, borderline-bitter huckleberry are laced with fresh lime whose zest adds further bitterness. As with others of the Loosen vintage 2018 Grosse Gewächse, the midpalate impression is pithy and palpably dense but positively influenced in texture by lees (though Schug and Loosen never stir them). This finishes without the clarity or comfortingly cooling herbal notes found in the corresponding Lay. Instead, it’s stone suffusion and pit-piquancy all the way through. The wine is certainly impressive in terms of sheer grip – leaving me licking my lips in an effort to clean off apparent residues – and harbors a modicum of primary, lime-like juiciness to refresh. The two fuders’ worth of this was due for bottling only in mid-2020 and release late that year, so perhaps its austerity and aggressive piquancy will by then have been tempered. - David Schildknecht, Nov. 2020