Villa Loosen 2020 Riesling

Our Riesling tasting panel loved this wine, from its opening aroma of honey and lilac through to the delightful front-of-mouth flavours of citrus, elderflower and herbs followed by a perfectly balancing astringency, finishing long on mineral and gooseberries and all boosted by a hint of spritz.  This is pretty much the perfect lower alcohol Riesling, as near dry as it’s perhaps possible to get.  At its sensible price, we had to give this a perfect 5.0.

This wine represents Ernst Loosen at the peak of his form and rigour.  Cruelly, part of that rigour is a great attention to detail and maintaining his quality standards which limits production volumes whilst demand grows as his fame and international reach is spreading.  Because of this availability of his wines comes and goes, so if you do find this available, I’d definitely buy a case (or two).  And it will only improve with age.

So absolutely don’t be put off by the “off-sweet” label – this is a sophisticated nectar.  It makes a delicious aperitif and is a delight to drink whilst eating anything salty such as cheeses, salamis, anchovies or sushi.  You might even want to lay some down – it will keep improving for a good ten years.

What’s more, if you are a first time buyer from Laithwaites, and you buy a case of 12, then using discount code 50OFF120Q3 you can buy 12 bottles for £81.88 – that’s just £6.82 each!

Laithwaites’ T&Cs are below.  Offer is only open until 2 April 2022. Offer code can be used for any purchase over £120 and then gives £50 off plus free delivery.