Browse Tag

white

Dog days

[marlborough]Dog Point 2005 Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough) – Classic Marlborough “savvy” riding the rail between green, chile & herb exuberance and riper gooseberry and lightly tropical fruit, with fine acidity and poise. Not great, but certainly good. (8/07)

Riesling rising

[bottle]Rosemount 2005 Riesling (South Eastern Australia) – Full of varietal character, and quite drinkable in a pinch, but there’s nothing else to add to that description. It’s basically dry, with the usual high Aussie acidity scraping any remaining sugar from every interior surface, and the finish is a bit abrupt. Still, one can do a lot worse in the Rosemount stable. (8/07)

Not the guy who invented the computer

Babich 2005 Chardonnay “Unwooded” (Hawke’s Bay) – Under screwcap, and heavily reduced. It doesn’t much matter, however, because there’s just not much here to rescue; the mild, melony fruit is wimpy and generally useless. Babich is typically a very solid producer, even at the low end, so this performance is a little surprising. (8/07)

Blanck slate

[label]Blanck 2002 Gewurztraminer Altenbourg (Alsace) – Beautiful peach, pear, cashew and light lychee with a strong, crystallized mineral core and fine balance. I’ve always thought this was ageable, and now that the first throes of youth have passed, I’m even more sure. But it’s in a really good place right now, as well. (7/07)

See Hugel

[label]Hugel 2004 Gewurztraminer (Alsace) – Done up in the classic Hugel style: dry (to the palate; there may be some analyzable residual sugar) with plenty of acidity and a restrained, elegant character. This restraint doesn’t always serve Hugel well in these days of critic-pleasing excess, and then some years Hugel gets it profoundly wrong, producing something wan rather than elegant. But when it all works (as it does here), it’s a firm commitment to tradition over modishness. There’s still plenty of tradition to be found in Alsace, but not much of it is exported in these quantities. Grab it before it disappears forever. (8/07)

JP II

JP&JF Becker 2001 Riesling Kronenbourg (Alsace) – A composite note. The first bottle is advanced, with creamier and more oxidative notes in concert with a quartzy mineral spice and flashing whiteness, while the second bottle is much more along expected lines, with firm malic acidity and a fresh, glacial wash over white rocks. Well-stored and with cork intact, this has years yet to go. (7/07)

JP I

JP&F Becker 2005 Riesling (Alsace) – All the riesling notes are here, but they’re vague and tentative, and there’s neither intensity nor elegance, polish nor verve. Becker’s quite capable of interesting, terroir-revelatory rieslings, but at the lower end things are weaker than they should be. This is insubstantial and diffuse, and I doubt it’s going to improve either. (7/07)

Mambourg number five

[label]Sparr 2002 Gewurztraminer Mambourg “Grand Cru” (Alsace) – Intense but not overdriven, with a burnt-mineral foundation layered with firm crystallized peach, lychee and almond and a supportive acid backbone, which completely dominates the very mild residual sweetness. Balanced, long and showing its terroir; what more could one want from a gewürztraminer? (8/07)

Sparrs and stripes

[label]Sparr 2001 Riesling Schoenenbourg “Grand Cru” (Alsace) – A softening sweetness can’t detract from the pure terroir on display here: crushed white flowers, a little chalk, a rounded and polished core that tails off a bit on the finish. Classic and ageworthy, though there’s definitely that sugar to contend with. (9/07)

Gewurz of times

Trimbach 2001 Gewurztraminer (Alsace) – Drinking beautifully right now, with full-bodied ripe peach and lychee sliced by strongly metallic structural elements, a quartzy rock salt finish, and balancing acidity. (8/07)