Browse Tag

alsace

TN: C’mon baby, do the iron erosion

Trimbach 1998 Riesling (Alsace) – This tastes like erosion. Bare-faced iron and gravel in a desert wind with all the softening elements stripped away, and only the most desiccated residue of old-riesling creaminess lingering in the deep background. Fully mature. (2/07)

TN: BB king

[vineyard]Barmès Buecher 1997 Riesling Leimenthal (Alsace) – Creamy and mildly sweet, with molten aluminum and fragrant, almost lurid fresh lilies floating on top. I’d say this is fully mature. It’s a little softer around the edges than one might like (blame the vintage), but it’s still a very nice example of the variety and site. (2/07)

TN: Engel weiss

[vineyard]F. Engel 2002 Pinot Gris “Vieilles Vignes” (Alsace) – Spiced, mineral-infused pear – the classic and highly appealing profile of Alsatian pinot gris – with good acidity and a candied hazelnut finish. Very tasty. I don’t think age will hurt this wine, but I think what’s good about it now is more worthwhile that what will be good about it in a half-dozen years. Anyway, that’s my preference. (12/06)

TN: Kientzler instinct

Kientzler 2001 Pinot Gris Ribeauvillé “Réserve Particulière” (Alsace) – This domaine is building a reputation as one of the most reliable dry wine producers in Alsace, perhaps second only to their near-neighbors at Trimbach. Here, for example, is a pinot gris with acidity, nerve and metallic-edged sharp pear that long-time drinkers might remember as more of the norm than the exception; it’s got the structure to age, and the stuffing is actual dry extract rather than sultry pear syrup. Finely poised and eminently drinkable. Pinot gris is probably the least of the “noble” grapes of Alsace (and often less interesting than the region’s ubiquitous pinot blanc/auxerrois blends), yet this wine demonstrates that it doesn’t have to be. (12/06)

TN: Sparring partner

[label]Sparr 2005 Riesling (Alsace) – Fairly classic, with steely minerality underneath crisp apples shot through with metallic shards. There’s a very light dollop of sweetness on the midpalate, but the finish is balanced and structured enough to handle it. Good, bargain riesling in the stronger Alsace style. (1/07)

TN: Gewurz gewurz

Trimbach 2001 Gewurztraminer (Alsace) – Balanced but closed, with firm acidity and a core of molten aluminum surrounded by peach pit, cashew, pork rind and bitter lychee. Structured and pure, with any residual sugar dominated by other elements, and due for a big comeback in a few years. (12/06)

Trimbach 2003 Gewurztraminer (Alsace) – It looks like gewürztraminer. It smells like gewürztraminer (albeit through gauze). It tastes like gewürztraminer paste. Another victim of 2003. (12/06)

TN: The old hunter

[vineyard]Zusslin 2004 Chasselas “Vieilles Vignes” (Alsace) – Thin, spiced water being pushed through a micropore filter. What aromas there are ooze out, rather than burst forth, and while there’s a nice metallic edge, the whole thing is a rather big letdown. It’s not indifferent – which far too much chasselas is – it’s just not very good. (1/07)

TN: The grapes are always sweeter

Rolly Gassmann 1997 Auxerrois Moenchreben de Rorschwihr (Alsace) – Wind-blown spice with crystallized peach, vague mixed vegetable notes (perhaps mostly carrots?), and a sweet fatness only slightly mitigated by acidity. It’s very appealing, but in a slobbering, affectionate dog sort of way. (12/06)

Trimbach 1990 Riesling “Cuvée Frédéric Émile” “Sélection des Grains Nobles” (Alsace) – From 375 ml. Crisp orange, apricot and creamy peach – slightly unusual for CFE, though this is an SGN – but fear not: the massive, molten steel minerality soon asserts its dominance over all else. There’s plenty of sugar here, still, yet the wine is drying in a most delicious way. It’s partly the aforementioned metal, partly the acidity, and partly the process that seems to happen as botrytized & unoaked sweet wines age. But whatever the chemistry, this is an incredibly poised wine, still not fully mature, and perhaps not even drinking to 75% of its potential. (12/06)

Fonseca 1963 Port (Douro) – Ripe, roasted and cooked cherries loaded with sticky fruit syrup and big sugar. Soft and fully resolved. This is a truly delicious wine, and yet…I don’t know, there’s something missing. Maybe a bit of structure would be welcome, or maybe it’s just the tiniest bit simpler than one would like. Then again, maybe I have ridiculous expectations. It is a heck of a wine. And yet… (12/06)

TN: Kitchen Zinck

Zinck 2001 Gewurztraminer Pfersigberg “Grand Cru” (Alsace) – There’s a piercing quality to this producer’s Pfersigbergs that doesn’t block one bit of gewurztraminer’s pork-bottomed hedonism; it’s partially good, strong acidity, but also a slicing, diamond-sharpened minerality. This was very good young, but it’s getting better, and the best years of all are unquestionably ahead of it. (12/06)

TN: Two more Trimbachs

Trimbach 2000 Gewurztraminer (Alsace) – Stone fruit jerky, tending towards slight bitterness and showing less acidity than one might prefer. It’s in a good place right now, riding a line between primary fruit and mature gewurztraminery characteristics, and the lack of acid means it probably won’t continue to develop in salutary ways. So drink up. (12/06)

Trimbach 1998 Riesling (Alsace) – Molten iron filings with a wet, slate-like character chunked up by something a little more organic-earthy…edging towards, but not actually reaching, the mushroom family. Fully mature, balanced, and really, really nice. (12/06)