Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Kabinett

The Würzgarten, or “spice garden,” rises steeply above the village of Ürzig, its weathered red slate a geological anomaly amid the blue-grey Devonian slate that dominates the Middle Mosel. This iron- and mineral-rich rock, mixed with volcanic debris and loess, radiates heat back into the vines during the day and imparts a distinctive piquancy to the fruit grown upon it. The vineyard’s amphitheater shape, with pitches often exceeding fifty degrees, forces every vine into direct exposure to sun and river-reflected light, while the Mosel below moderates temperature swings and extends the growing season. Ernst Loosen has long championed this site as one of the Mosel’s most singular expressions of terroir, farming old, ungrafted vines with minimal intervention, low yields, and a conviction that great Kabinett must speak of place before it speaks of sugar.

In the glass, this Kabinett opens with an aromatic lift of exotic spice—cardamom, white pepper, and dried ginger—layered over orchard blossom, ripe apricot, and a whisper of quince. The red slate signature emerges distinctly on the mid-palate as a warm, almost smoky minerality, quite different from the cooler, flintier character typical of blue slate sites. Texturally, the wine is silken yet lively, its 12 g/L residual sugar cushioned by a firm spine of 8 g/L acidity that keeps the fruit taut rather than plush. Flavors evolve from citrus pith and green apple through to nectarine and a saline, stony finish, with the spice notes lingering rather than fading.

2022 was a vintage of ripe, healthy fruit balanced by cooling nights that preserved acidity—ideal conditions for Kabinett of this pedigree. Though delicious now, this wine rewards patience: over the next decade the primary fruit will recede in favor of honeyed, petrol-tinged complexity, while the red slate spice character deepens and integrates further with age.