Wine Review - Dr. L Riesling 2006

We will try to give you a regular update on interesting wines we tasted, either bought from one of the off-licenses in town or ordered from a restaurant wine list.

The warm Middle-Eastern climate screams for light, crisp, refreshing white wines. Germany is arguably the best producer of this type of wines, and the Riesling grape (which is widely planted throughout Germany) is capable of producing a wide variety of tastes, suiting almost every palate.

While Germany has a history of producing masses of cheap (semi-)sweet wine, many producers have been making great quality wines for decades. Dr. Loosen is one of them. This family-owned business from the Mosel area has been around for over 200 years, and they produce everything from racy, dry whites to supersweet and complex dessert wines. The Dr. L bottling is meant as an entry level wine, and is mainly made for the American market. The grapes for this wine are not sourced from Loosen's own vineyards, but bought in from several growers in the region.

The wine has very nice, clean fruity flavours, and is semi-sweet in character. Some floral aromas complete the profile. Although a nice wine, the sweetness is a bit too pronounced, which makes it rather one-dimensional. It could do with some more mineral freshness. This wine will probably work well with spicy (Thai) food. The alcohol level is 8,5%, so you can easily have a glass or two in the sun without feeling too buzzy.

You can buy this wine at African & Eastern for 6.200 OMR. A good price for a decent wine, but we will continue our search for a German Riesling with a bit more character and freshness. Recommended though, if you like your wines in the style that the Germans call 'lieblich'.