Wine & Spirits Magazine "Best German Producer", Wine International's "White Winemaker of the Year" and Decanter's "Man of the Year". To say that the trade respects Ernst Loosen is a bit of an understatement. He took over his family's company in 1988 and since then has established Dr. Loosen as one of Germany's top producers.German wine is still a hard sell in the UK and around the world, but Loosen has worked and traveled tirelessly not only promoting his own wines, but Riesling and German wines as well. But what floats his boat? We asked him 6 Questions...
Aside from your own wines, what do you like to drink on a regular basis?
That’s easy: Red Burgundy. I have no problem admitting that I’m a Pinot Noir fanatic.
If you weren't a wine maker, what job would you like to do?
Archaeologist. I was studying archaeology at the University in Mainz when I had to make the decision about running the family wine estate. Fortunately, we have a lot of Roman ruins in the Mosel area to keep me interested.
What is the best wine you have ever tried?
The most memorable Pinot Noir I’ve ever tasted was the 1969 Chambertin of Armand Rousseau. Glorious! The most perfect Riesling I’ve ever drunk has to be the 1921 feinste Auslese from J.J. Prüm. Astonishingly complete and fresh.
An often asked question is "what is the best wine you have ever made?", so what is the worst?
Well, like most young winemakers, early on I tried a few things that clearly didn’t work out. Inspired by the oak experiments of André Ostertag, I made a 1987 Rivaner (Müller-Thurgau) in barrique. Ghastly stuff. But the worst idea had to be the 1986 Riesling that we also did in barrique, and with an “artist” label. Both the wine and the label were horrible!
Describe yourself in three words.
Cynical (you can’t always accept things the way they are), sceptical (but you also have to be wary of trendy new ideas), irreverent (and you can’t take life too seriously).
Name three people, real or fictional, living or dead, that would be your ideal dinner party guests and what would you be drinking?
John Cleese, Mr. Bean, Mel Brooks, Groucho Marx and Monsieur Creosote. Okay, that’s four, but we’re going to need some help with M. Creosote’s 12 bottles of ‘47 Mouton!
Dr. Loosen wines are widely available
Dr. Loosen Website
M. Creosote on YouTube (do not watch if you are of a weak stomach!)
With thanks to Awin Barratt Siegel Wine Agencies
Previous 6 Questions with
Dan Aykroyd
Paul Draper
Dan Connolly
Sir Cliff Richard
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