Dr. Loosen, Erdener Treppchen Kabinett Riesling 2005 (Mosel), $25, 8% abv

I drank this casualty first from the wet cellar because it has a twist cap, and my arms were exhausted from my first attempt of bucketing out water from the basement.

One thing I was really surprised by was the quality of inks and glues used for nearly all of the wet bottles on the bottom shelf of the cellar. That label barely shows any damage. If anything, importer labels that were later added were the only label that were sliding off as I moved them to drier grounds.

Back to the wine: fortunately, the Dr. Loosen showed no signs of damage. As I would have expected, it had a medium (+) intensity of dried tropical aromatics and was already developing a petrol note. A classic mineral aroma was also present. On the palate the wine is off-dry and has a slight spritz that augments the medium (+) acidity that cleans away the residual sugar and leaves behind a beautiful kaleidoscope of pineapple, ripe lemon, and wet stone flavors.

Easy to drink all night long at 8% while checking the progress of the water pump downstairs…