This episode is a an interview with German Riesling extraudeair Ernst Loosen [pronounced Lohzen]. Besides mentioning that he was Decanter's 2005 "Man of the Year", I think the following quote sums him up;
"Ernst Loosen doesn’t mince words. Passionate, irrepressibly irreverent, ironic and outraged – all within the same sentence – he is a fascinating conversationalist and an erudite lecturer. He has been called Germany’s winemaker rock star and its best wine ambassador. Sandra Shoji, The Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo), April 12, 2003"
The interview was done at the Frankland Estate International Riesling Tasting by Dave Brookes – Sydney wine blogger and all-round good guy. Dave contributes to WineFront and has his own blog at www.vinosense.com. The interview is a bit hardcore but is a great insight into many topics surrounding Riesling, Germany, Australia, Washington State and matching grapes to production methods and food pairing.
For more info, here's two documents from the drloosen.com site;
- Guide to German Wine which may help with all the quality levels mentioned in the show,
- Guide to pairing Loosen wines with food . (the rights of both pdf's remain with drloosen.com)
If the interview sparked an interest in Ernst, try his entry level "Dr Loosen" Riesling 2004 or 2005. Cam Wheeler from Appellation Australia has a review of it here . There's a review of the more pricey "J L Wolf Jesuitengarten Riesling 2004" at winorama .
If you're having trouble with your local wine stores, click here to try the Oz Wine Show wine search feature , type in "loosen" and click "go".
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All the best, Hugo