Dr. Loosen Blue Slate R Trocken 2024

Dr. Loosen is one of the reference producers of the Mosel, classified within the VDP Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, and the Blue Slate R Trocken is their dry village Riesling. The fruit comes from steep sites on blue Devonian slate, vines many of which are over 60 years old on their own rootstocks. Slate warms quickly and holds heat into the cool nights, and this diurnal swing lets Riesling ripen slowly while retaining its natural acidity; the broken slate itself carries through as a saline, flinty character in the glass. Fermentation is taken to dryness (Trocken), and short ageing in wood rounds the texture without adding obvious oak flavour, so the fruit and minerality stay in the foreground. The colour is pale green-gold. The nose is bright and precise, with lemon, green apple and white peach lifted by wet-stone minerality. The palate is dry and juicy, its citrus fruit framed by firm acidity and a savoury, slate-driven finish, with a touch of orchard-fruit and honey on the close. Serve at 8 to 10 degrees in a white wine glass. It suits fresh shellfish, delicate white fish and lightly spiced Asian dishes.