Heymann Löwenstein Kirchberg Riesling Grosses Gewächs 2017

While unfettered pleasure is the reflex response elicited by classic Mosel Riesling, the often overt power and disorienting range of Heymann-Löwenstein tends to be more thought-provoking. Reinhard Löwenstein views his craft as a creative interplay between climate, soil, vine and grower, culminating in wines that are singular, authentic and complex. The wines he makes with daughter Sarah never fall short on that count, and the 2012s are the most complete we've seen.

The descriptor trocken is banned from his vocabulary and anybody foolish enough (not me!) to enquire about levels of residual sugar is duly and properly chastised. He probably considers the alcohol content another irrelevant detail in the greater scheme of things, but the law is an ass and requires that information to be given. What matters to Löwenstein is terroir, and tasting his wines from different plots within the same vineyard, his credo is convincing. - Michael Schmidt, jancisrobinson.com