Weingut Dr. Loosen — Attraction in Bernkastel-Kues

Went to visit as part of a wine journey in part in the French champagne region and the Mosel Riesling region. During our trip we visited a lot of wineries. Some wineries required appointments, some did not have time, other invited us in – some charging money which is quite ok.

During wine trips in California, New Zealand, Australia, France and the rest of the champagne treatment I have however never been treated like at Dr. Loosen.

We drove from the Traben-Trarbech region to Dr. Loosen Weingut to see if anyone was in, and possible had time for a tasting, alternatively arrange another time if possible.

After getting out of the car and approaching the place (which by the way looks more like a shop than a home) we were approached by a man who had been smoking outside asking us “who we were”. After answering that we had drove some way to visit the winery if possible he angrily replied “this is not a restaurant – you cant just come wandering in here without an appointment." My friend asked if it was possible to arrange a future appointment but did not get an answer, instead a door closed in front of us.

When we approach wineries – especially the small ones that have character as homes we approach with humility, respect and politeness. In return I expect the same when rejected. This was NOT reciprocated in any way here and I am absolutely DONE with this winery in every regard. Not visiting, not buying it, not drinking it ever again. I would recommend any that are not in luck of having an appointment to stay...

When thinking of German wine from outside Germany, chances are that Dr. Loosen comes to mind - and that's even before going into Riesling or the Mosel.

Located just a short walk from the picture postcard Bernkastel-Kues, the newly renovated cellar door is located on the banks of the river, nestled amongst the Middle-Mosel's most prestigous vineyards.

We were there for an intimate tasting of their wines, and none other than Herr Loosen himself made an impromptu appearance to our delight, and generously spent time with us answering questions and posing for selfies.

Dr. Loosen are known more for their drier styles of Riesling. Many of the range are adorned bodly with GG (Grosses Gewächs - dry-style Grand Cru) on the bottles' necklines.

We worked our way through their portfolio of Rieslings (with a cheeky Weissburgunder thrown in!) - visiting rockstar vineyards like Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Ürziger Würzgarten, Bernkasteler Lay to name but a few. Even with the older vintages, we were surprised how fresh and lively they were - light but complex and textural with fresh stonefruit, lemon, pear, blossom, honey, wet slate characters throughout. Many have gone through extended lees aging in old oak (without stirring) to develop a more textural and mineral backbone.

A highly recommended visit when you're...

This review concerns the place and experience, not the wine. Beautiful estate, only accessible for tasting by (paid) appointment. You pay €15 for 5 wines to taste, with remarkably small portions. We (4 people) were seated at a table with a total of 7 people. An employee told us a somewhat generic story about the wines but was otherwise friendly.

After the tasting, we wanted to try some additional wines to decide what to purchase. We were told that we could taste 2 additional wines but would be charged for a more expensive arrangement. We agreed, as we were curious and motivated to buy more. It turned out that for those 2 additional sips (that’s all they were), we were charged an extra €10 per person.

The lady helping us at that point made some clearly negative remarks about our group to one of her colleagues as she was getting our wines. Overall, we experienced our visit as rather unpleasant and not hospitable. It was only made worse by the stinginess of the portions and the lack of flexibility in allowing additional tastings. We visited quite a few other estates in the region, covering a wide spectrum of wine quality—all of which we would recommend...