UK Wine Show 92 Ernst Loosen on German Wine

This show was published Friday, February 22, 2008

Overview

The Dr Loosen estate has been in the Loosen family for 200 years. Ernst Loosen took over in 1988 and has been creating world-class wines ever since. We find out why Ernst believes German wine is hot right now.

In the 70's, 80's and 90's Germany suffered from a reputation in the UK for cheap, bulk wine and Liebfraumilch. Since the mid-90s producers have been working to promote Riesling around the world. The grape is hot! It's exported to over 60 countries and currently there's not enough to supply the US market. It's a versatile grape which can be produced in very many styles and though it can be confusing for consumers on the other hand people are willing to learn and want to try more styles, not just Chardonnay. There's been a huge renaissance for Riesling in Germany itself and for German wines - 50% of top restaurant wine lists are German wines. Also the US and Asia (Taiwan, Korea, China) like the fruity, lighter style. This fruity style and the dry style are both working in the UK and Ernst can see a trend for lower alcohol wines that are more refreshing than those at 14-15.5% abv.

Other future predictions are for other grape varieties such as Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and in particular, Sylvaner. Sylvaner can produce great wines - not too acidic, perfect balanced, dry style. Riesling and Sylvaner were crossed to make Muller Thurgau but Sylvaner is the old traditional grape variety. In Germany, three is money to be made from producing wine and the industry is attracting back young winemakers - it a very exciting time right now for German wine.

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The UK Wine Show is sponsored by ThirtyFifty. Our team of wine tasters are busy entertaining and educating UK consumers to help them get the most out of wine.

Music

The music used for the UK Wine Show is Griffes de Jingle 1 by Marcel de la Jartèle and Silence by Etoile Noire.