Heymann-Lowenstein 'Uhlen Roth Lay' Riesling GG 2022

Tuesday saw us travel to Winningen in the lower Mosel to visit Reinhard at his estate Heymann Löwenstein. What an incredible appointment.

The philosophy of Reinhard was explained to us in such detail and passion, but with plenty of laughs along the way. What was clear is that he sets out to make the very best wines possible without compromise, and without feeling the need to make wines expected of the region. He is clearly a very intelligent man who reads widely, learning from all sorts of sources. He does not subscribe to one way of making wine, but is very pragmatic, questioning everything along the way.

“I don’t want to be known as a Riesling producer or a Mosel producer. I make Rotgen and Uhlen.”

The result is a fascinating winery producing exceptional wines. They have Mosel finesse and delicate edges, but also have so much expanse on the palate.

Whilst he is as hands-off in the winery as possible, making the most transparent wines he can, Reinhard would hate to be considered a so-called ‘natural’ producer. “Wine is not natural. Wine is the child of civilisation.”

With a smirk on his face, he says that his wine is at the meeting point between natural wine “that tastes like vinegar” and large-scale commercial wine he calls “plastico fantastico.”

I loved every single wine we tasted during this appointment. The 2015 Uhlen Laubach to end the tasting - perhaps my wine of the week - totally blew me away for its span of flavours and textures. Unbelievably good and an indication of the results of a little bit of patience when cellaring the wines.

Below is what we currently have available to order (reply to this email if you’d like anything). Prices listed as single bottle price/six bottle price (can be mixed).

I’m already planning my own mixed dozen of these. Ches Cook, FWC.