How Loosen went dry

See our guide to German Week at JancisRobinson.com, and Germany 2012 – a guide.

We kick off our German Week, heralded last Friday by Julia's notes on Justerini & Brooks' current offer of Grosse Gewächse, with an account of a lunch last year organised for Erni Loosen by Gareth Birchley of London fine-wine traders Bordeaux Index. I've always thought that German wine suffers from a shortage of internationally recognised personalities. Erni with his delightfully loose tongue and wild hair, not to mention ceaseless travel and joint venture with Chateau Ste Michelle in Washington state, is the most prominent exception...