# Riesling Beerenauslese (NV)

- **Producer:** Weingut Dr. Loosen
- **Colour:** white
- **Type:** dessert
- **Grapes:** Riesling
- **Region:** Mosel, Germany
- **Style:** Classic
- **Alcohol:** 7.5%
- **Average price:** €35
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 8–10 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** apricot, peach, orange, pineapple, mango, lemon, dried apricot, marmalade, dried fig, honey

## About this wine

Beerenauslese is a prestigious German wine classification designating lusciously sweet wines made from individually hand-picked berries affected by noble rot (Botrytis cinerea). Riesling Beerenauslese represents one of the pinnacle styles of world dessert wines, balancing intense natural sweetness with vibrant acidity. Because noble rot requires specific autumnal microclimates with foggy mornings and warm afternoons, these legendary wines cannot be produced in every vintage.

## Interesting facts

- Grapes are hand-selected berry by berry, requiring painstaking labor across multiple vineyard passes.
- Riesling retains high natural acidity even at extreme ripeness, keeping the wine balanced and vibrant.
- Botrytis cinerea, or noble rot, only develops under special autumnal weather conditions.
- These concentrated dessert wines can easily age in bottle for four decades or more.

## Food pairing

High residual sweetness pairs magnificently with salty, pungent blue cheeses and rich, fatty dishes like foie gras, creating a luxurious textural contrast. High natural acidity cuts through fat while matching fruit-based desserts and balancing spicy dishes.

## Wine making process

Harvesting requires painstaking labor, as pickers select individually botrytized and shriveled grapes berry by berry. Chaptalization is strictly forbidden under German wine law. Fermentation occurs slowly in temperature-controlled stainless steel or traditional neutral wooden casks, naturally halting at low alcohol levels due to high sugar concentration. The wine is aged without oak influence to preserve fruit purity, natural acidity, and botrytis complexity.