The Loewen Family has farmed the Mosel since they acquired the Maximin Klosterlay site during the reign of Napoleon in 1805. It is now run by Christopher Loewen and his father Karl-Joseph. The Loewen's acquired their piece of the Thörnicher Ritsch Erste Lage site in 1998. the Vineyard is the second steepest vineyard in all of Germany. The first thing they did upon purchasing the site was to cease any use of chemical fertilization, and the site has has a unique knack for producing botrytis-affected berries much earlier in the growing season than the rest of the Mosel. This allows for greener, refreshing aromas to remain in the wine. Auslese is a very unique wine style in Germany. The term Auslese translates to "picked out," and refers to the fact that the grapes are hand-harvested bunch-by-bunch, as each bunch becomes infected with the fungus Botrytis Cinerea. This is quite a labor-intensive process, but produces incredible wine. Botrytis affects grape berries by consuming the water within the berries it rests on. This concentrates the grape juice itself, producing sweeter wines of incredible complexity. Oftentimes the wine will almost taste "honeyed." Loewen's Ritsch Auslese is a medium-bodied Riesling with tons of personality. Less sweet than the typical auslese—but still plenty sweet—the wine nonetheless shows passion fruit, peach, lemon zest, lychee and honey. 9.0% ABV
