Browse Tag

france

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: 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: 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: 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: Fade to pink

Iché “Château d’Oupia” 2004 Minervois Rosé (Languedoc) – The sun-dried wild thyme is starting to heat up from the alcohol; a sign that this rosé is coming to the end of its useful life. It was delicious while it lasted, and there’s still some enticing earthiness to the package. But drink up nonetheless. (12/06)

TN: Them

Martin “Château Gloria” 1992 St-Julien (Bordeaux) – Mixed herbs and dried cocoa dust with black fruit, black trumpet mushrooms and dark earth. The structure, which has more acid than is the modern norm, and tannin that has edged carefully but inexorably towards graphitic, is still firmly in place, and reasonably balanced as well, yet I’d still call it fully mature. (12/06)

TN: Toil, trouble

[BdB]Pierre Moncuit Champagne “Grand Cru” Brut Blanc de Blancs “Cuvée Pierre Moncuit-Delos” (Champagne) – Lemon curd dust and crisp green apple; incredibly clean at first, it quickly accumulates weight and bread-influenced complexity, yet never sheds its clarity or crispness. Pure palate excitement. (12/06)

Moët & Chandon Champagne Aÿ “Grand Cru” Brut Les Sarments d’Aÿ (Champagne) – 100% pinot noir. Strawberry and orange blossom, very floral and dark red in tone, with a hint of watermelon (perhaps even Jolly Rancher) brought out by the rouged acidity. Fascinating and unique, though not quite as strikingly magical as the pinot meunier version of this triply varietal set. (12/06)

TN: Let the fennel in

[vineyards]Soard “Domaine de Fenouillet” 2005 Vin de Pays de Vaucluse (Rhône) – It sounds both unkind and unhealthy to say, but this is rustic old red wine made through grape-stained socks. The thing is, this footwear quality comes off as a good – though particular – thing, with the rough-hewn red and purple berries lent an actively organic aroma. There’s some vague nods in the direction of structure, but mostly this is a pleasurable representation of the kind of regional wine one doesn’t actually get to taste outside of the region of production; there’s freshly-ironed clothes and a comb taken to the hair, but the peasant within remains. (12/06)