NY Times article on Riesling from Alsace... and sweetness

Hi,

I can remember a rather acerbic exchange between myself and a former regular contributor to this board.
I pointed out that Alsace wines in general, and Gewürtztraminer in particular, were a problem to me and others because you never knew whether they were going to be dry or sweet(ish).

No, I was firmly told, *all* Alsace, unless a vendanges tardives or sélection de grains nobles is dry. Bone dry. And that's that.

We could not see eye to eye on this, and my experience contradicted his.

I see now that the NY Times correspondent has a similar take to my own: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/31/dinin ... ref=dining

Leaving that aside, I am glad to see that Riesling from Alsace did so well at the tasting. It's my favorite grape variety and I find it ages well too.

Best regards,
Alex R.

Riesling...It's my favorite grape variety

More than cabernet sauvignon! I'm shocked!

... my favorite grape variety ***in Alsace***!!!

And contrary to any impression I may have conveyed on this or any other forum, the Pinot Noir grape, when everything comes together, is on the same pedestal as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot when it comes to red wine grapes.

Syrah's up there too, but there seems to be very little indeed of the top-rate stuff.

Alex R.

Hi,


No, I was firmly told, *all* Alsace, unless a vendanges tardives or sélection de grains nobles is dry. Bone dry. And that's that.

Who said that ? Most people seem to be well aware of the sweetwards drift in Alsace wine for at least the last 10 years as well as of the lack of help on most labels on dryness/sweetness. I frequently rant about it.

That NY Times article is very good.

Indeed I think that it is a very good newspaper (Washington Post also). I've been going into their websites often lately, particularly during that lamentable debt ceiling episode. They seems superior to any UK newspapers except the Financial Times.

Tim,

>>>Who said that ?

Since you ask, someone named Thor Iverson, who no longer posts here.
He said that he was going to write a book on Alsace, but I have never seen or heard of it.

Alex R.

[David M. Bueker]

Thor regularly claimed (at the time) that the Trimbach wines were dry (except VT and SGN). I seriously doubt he ever made the more global claim you cite. Do you have a reference. He's been railing against the "no idea what this really is" Alsace problem for ages.

Alex,
One of Eric's better articles, I thought.

I have followed Alsatian Rieslings since the late '60's ("from the very start"??). They were universally dry, even the VendageTardive ones. As in "bone dry". And w/ a screaming acidity. My rule of thumb in buying Alsatian Rieslings was the more hurtey they were to drink on release, the greater they would be down the road w/ 10-20 yrs of age. It worked for me.
Then the Z-H paradigm came along....harvest later, higher alcohol, lower acidity, often w/ some RS. These wines got huge scores from certain critics and the whole world of Alsace Riesling shited to the Z-H paradigm. The wines didn't age nearly as well. They were tiring to drink. They did not go w/ a good dish of weenies&kraut.
So...to get the kind of Rieslings (and GWTs) I liked, I moved to the AltoAdige. And ClareVlly. And McLarenVale.
Eric's article gives me hope. Hope that maybe more Alsatian Rieslings will return to their pre-Z-H roots. That...gasp....maybe even the Z-H Rieslings will return to their old roots. It sounds like OliverHumbrecht may have finally realized the mistake in his ways and, once again, acid will start to play a leading role in those wines. One can only hope.
Anyway...a wonderful read from Eric today. Made my day.

Jeez....I so miss Thor. I always liked his posts here. I hope he's still drinking well.

Tom

Tim,

>>>Who said that ?

Since you ask, someone named Thor Iverson, who no longer posts here.
He said that he was going to write a book on Alsace, but I have never seen or heard of it.

Like David, I find it hard to fathom that Thor would have said that all Alsace wine is dry, unless it was a very young and foolish Thor who did so. I've heard him many times complain about the growing sweetward drift of wines in Alsace.

Mark Lipton

0h, I remember the discussion very well... It was more like a flame war actually. I was told that sweetness was only to be found in the shit they sold in French supermarkets. And when I called up the CIVA (Conseil Interprofessionel des Vins d'Alsace) and they agreed with my premise, this made not a whit of difference.

As you say, perhaps the person in question has changed his opinion.

It happens...

Best regards,
Alex R.

... my favorite grape variety ***in Alsace***!!!

Well the competition isn't exactly tough there.

Got bit by the 'drift' last week. Opened a 2000 Albert Mann Pinot Gris Grand Cru Furstentum and found it wioth much more RS than I'd have liked. Set it aside as not complementing the main course and finished it later with some Brie and a slice of ripe peach, with which it went very well. Drinking nicely and no rush, BTW.

Got bit by the 'drift' last week. Opened a 2000 Albert Mann Pinot Gris Grand Cru Furstentum and found it wioth much more RS than I'd have liked. Set it aside as not complementing the main course and finished it later with some Brie and a slice of ripe peach, with which it went very well. Drinking nicely and no rush, BTW.

I had a bottle of that some years back and, yes, it was quite the viscous and sweet version of Pinot Gris. Brie might be one of the few pairings that would work with a wine like that.

Mark Lipton

... my favorite grape variety ***in Alsace***!!!

Well the competition isn't exactly tough there.

You're right. But at a tasting of mature Alsace wines at the GC or similar level, I was a little surprised about how well the Pinot Gris varietals were showing. I think I actually preferred them to the Rieslings.

You're right. But at a tasting of mature Alsace wines at the GC or similar level, I was a little surprised about how well the Pinot Gris varietals were showing. I think I actually preferred them to the Rieslings.

Interesting to hear about the mature wines.

I think pinot gris in Alsace is very easy to like because the wines have so much weight and texture, plus of course the Alsatian minerality. They're forward friendly wines, like gewurztraminer. Which I like very much. But there's no question that riesling is a far superior grape.