Translation missing: en.Dr Loosen + Francois Mikulski + Pooley + Poppelvej Tasting Sat 3pm-6pm: Dr Loosen + Francois Mikulski + Pooley + Poppelvej Tasting Sat 3pm-6pm
Dr Loosen
Dr Loosen is one of the greatest and most loved producers of German Riesling - a family-owned winery for over 200 years, now run by Ernst F. Loosen since 1988. Ernst found what he needed to produce complex, world class wines in the Grand Cru sites of the Middle Mosel, with old vines and the heritage of his ancestors. Dr Loosen has been a member of the Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter (VDP) since 1993 which is an association of German quality wineries.
"The aromatic and textural sensations in a bottle of wine capture a whole cosmos, from the change of seasons to the distinctive terroir of a vineyard, the passion of the winemaker, and the distinctive stamp of the vintage."
Ernst is of the belief that all great winemakers already know what they want their wines to express before they are picked; terroir triumphs over technology and quality over quantity which can only be achieved with uncompromising dedication and passion. The quality of Dr Loosen's wines come down to 3 distinct factors: cool regional climate, distinctive slate soil and old, ungrafted vines. The Mosel is a cool climate with steep, south-facing slopes looking over the river that runs through the valleys. The river helps to retain and reflect heat onto the steep slopes and helps create a long growing season so that grapes can achieve optimal ripeness without losing acidity. The stony slate soil, which can be seen on the surface of the vineyard, reflects sunlight to the grapes during the day while retaining heat throughout the cool nights. Thin, rocky topsoil forces the vines to dig deep for water, producing vibrant wines that capture the lively and distinctive mineral character of the soil. Dr Loosen also have vines up to 130 years old as some parts of the Mosel were unaffected by phylloxera. These vines are on their original root stocks and helps to produce wines that are more concentrated and expressive in their terroir.
We have some stock of 3 of Loosen's great Grosses Gewächs (GG) Rieslings. These GG label on these Rieslings is a term defined by the VDP mentioned earlier used to denote dry, single-variety wines from Germany’s leading vineyards, known as Grosse Lage (equivalent to grand cru vineyards in France’s Burgundy region). We have the '22 'Wehlener Sonnenuhr' Riesling which is an incredible steep vineyard with stony, shallow blue slate soil that gives the wine a delicate, fresh acidity as well as a unique finesse. Then we have the '22 'Erdener Treppchen' Riesling which is also from an extremely steep site with iron-rich, red slate soil that produces wines that are full-flavoured, racy and complex, with an intense mineral aftertaste. If the wines from the Wehlener Sonnenuhr seem like a graceful "ballerina," those from the Treppchen resemble muscular free-style climbers. Finally, we have the '22 'Urziger Wurzgarten' Riesling whose vineyard forms an amphitheater of red, volcanic sandstone producing wines with great depth, tantalizing exotic fruits and spicy aromas. These are some spectacular expressions of Riesling at surprisingly great prices for GG Rieslings. These wines can be enjoyed young but like all great Riesling, have the potential to age for decades. - Aaron C.Francois Mikulski
Francois Mikulski are one of the most sought-after modern Burgundy producers, based in Meursault since the first vintage in 1992. Mikulski's vision and practice is to produce wines of authenticity, elegance and purity which is achieved through organic practices, low yields with gentle pressing and a long process from vine to bottle.
The wines of Francois Mikulski are made with an absolute respect for the environment and terroir; home-produced composts, phytosanitary environmentally-friendly products, plowing, and a carefully preserved biological balance of the soil help them achieve their main cultivation goals. Mikulski is a practitioner of lutte raisonnée - a system of cultivation that is essentially organic and noninterventionist and entails holistic and balanced viticultural management with the principle focus on the microbial health of the soil and biodiversity of the vineyard. Mikulski aims for yields between 45hl to 50hl for the whites, pneumatic pressing followed by rigorous must settling with a slow fermentation of 3-4 months with natural yeasts in a cool cellar to achieve these elegant wines. The wines are eventually aged in oak for about 12 months, of which roughly 20% will be new oak on average. The meticulous care and attention to detail throughout all stages of the process from the start of the season until bottling is what produces these pure, elegant wines that are sought after by Burg-lovers the world over.
We have 4 different wines from this producer to share with you. The '21 Bourgogne Blanc which is an excellent introduction to Mikulski's wines and one of the most exciting Bourgogne level wines out there. At the village level, we have the '20 Meursault which comes from a variety of Meursault parcels (Meix Chavaux, Les Pelles Dessus, Chaumes de Narvaux, Moulin Landin , Limozin Pellans and Tillets) with an average vine age of 35 years. We only have 1 bottle of each these Premier Cru wines to go around: '21 'Les Meix Chavaux' and '21 'Limozin' .These wines are a big step up and are very difficult to track down, hence why we only have a bottle of each. Mikulski's wines are incredibly bright, racy, mineral-driven and elegant despite the fact that Meursault is more known for power and weight. Anyone who loves rare Burgundy shouldn't hesitate to pick up some of these wines. - Aaron C.Pooley
The first vines were planted in Cooinda Vale, Coal River in 1985 by Denis and Margaret Pooley as nothing more than a retirement plan at first. This site has now come to be known as one of the greatest cool climate sites in Australia for Pinot Noir and Riesling. Pooley remains a family-run estate after all these years and even recently won the Halliday Wine Companion winery of the year for 2023.
Pooley's vineyards are located inland away from bodies of water which results in a much drier environment than the other wine regions of Tasmania and causes more extremes in temperature. Despite this continentality, there is still some influence from the Southern Ocean which causes some warm sunny days and cool dewy nights and a long growing season so the grapes can smoothly achieve optimal ripeness. The lower rainfall is helpful for reducing disease pressure.
Pooley work with 2 main vineyards: the original Cooinda Vale vineyard planted in 1985, and the Butcher's Hill vineyard planted in 2003. Cooinda Vale is more continental and sheltered by the surrounding hills and sits at an elevation of 80-100m with NE aspect on shallow sandy clay loams over impervious clays, whereas Butcher's Hill is a steep north-facing slope between 30-100m altitude with black cracking clay and sandy loams with sandstone composite gravel from sandstone over heavy clay. Although not officially certified, Pooley also have a strong focus on biological farming and implement regenerative agricultural practices by dedicating permanent biodiversity zones on their sites to build back the landscape. Anna Pooley also handles everything gently with minimal intervention.
"Having the most natural inputs from vine to wine ensures we are paying homage to terroir and all the stories of that vintage."
We've got a large range of Pooley's brilliant wines to share with you. In the whites spectrum, we have their: '23 Pinot Grigio, '23 'Butcher's Hill' Chardonnay, '22 'Margaret Pooley Tribute' Riesling and the '23 'Elizabeth Anne' Chardonnay. We have a fantastic range of their great Pinots including the entry-level bottling and the 2 different sites: '23 Butcher's Hill and '22 Cooinda Vale. Finally, we have some of the more premium and exclusive black bottles, both of the '22 'Oronsay' versions of the Butcher's Hill and Cooinda Vale vineyards as well as the top-of-the-line '22 'Jack Dennis Pooley' Pinot Noir. These are some of the best wines, not just from Tasmania, but in the whole country and belong in the cellars and glasses of anyone serious about Australian wine. - Aaron C.Poppelvej Tasting
Saturday 6th July
3pm-6pm
This is a reminder that we'll be pouring the wines of Poppelvej this Saturday. Uffe Poppelvej is a Danish winemaker making some fresh, exciting and unique wines from Mclaren Vale and Adelaide Hills. All fruit is sourced from sustainable vineyards and a hands-off approach is taken in the cellar (or tiny shed in his case) to highlight the site-specific characteristics of each wine. These are the wines that we'll be pouring this Saturday:
Poppelvej 'RA' Greco 2023
Poppelvej 'Aeventry' Gewurztraminer 2023
Poppelvej 'Lille' Terodelgo 2022
Poppelvej 'Blue Rose Case' Cinsault 20223
Poppelvej 'Sort Sol' Cabernet Franc 2023