Know your étiquette! Dr Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Grosses Gewächs

As we continue to look at the quality pyramid of German wines from the nation’s VDP members, we now stand on the peak. Well, technically we got there in the previous video with our overview of the VDP Grosses Gewächs category. This is more like the icing on the cake.

Yes, Vininspo! has dragged you through a quagmire of German taxonomy and terminology but here’s the pure, piquant, thirst-quenching fruit of your labour right here.  

The last couple of videos have dug into this idea—not original in the world of wine by any means—that provenance and quality are inextricably linked. It is this ethos, and a championing of no-compromise farming practices that bring this idea to fruition, that drives Germany’s VDP.

We also looked at the concept of a Grosses Gewächs or GG—the ultimate dry-wine expression of a grand cru-rated vineyard (German: Grosse Lage). That all serves as context to link some of the label language to the land and then to the drink.

The underlying Vininspo! point is that the fascinating singularity of a place—it’s history, culture, geography, nature, climate, weather—give us something tangible and shareable that carries those details within. In other words, when you get to taste a GG, all these seemingly arbitrary words connect you to a time, a place and the intent involved in delivering this cultural product to your glass.

Anyway, all this worthy talk is making me feel thirsty. Let’s pull the cork on Dr Loosen’s 2019 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Grosses Gewächs and see if the effort’s worth it!