When it comes to the white wines of Alsace, a little patience can yield enormous benefits.
Sure the wines are tasty when released, and one should always try a bottle to savor the reflections of that vintage when fresh. But whites from Alsace truly reach the fullness of their expression with a little aging. The flavors integrate and seem to ripen and mature in the bottle, yielding nuances that simply weren’t there in the vigor of youth. The transformation that takes place slowly in the bottle is always impressive, occasionally outstanding.
As a case in point, let’s look at two entirely different Alsace whites, both served alongside a hearty, chunky, minestrone-style winter vegetable soup (actually more of a meatless stew), tomato-based but with a litany of pretty much all the root vegetables available on the market.
And that’s the other ‘hot tip’ on the white wines of Alsace: they are ideal for winter ‘comfort foods’; there is something autumnal in a nicely developed, full-bodied Alsace you do not often find in other whites.
Lucien Albrecht Pinot Gris “Cuvee Romanus”, Alsace, 2007
The highly regarded family firm of Albrecht, now in its ninth generation of farming grapes and making wine, honors its founder, Romanus Albrecht, by naming this vineyard after him. It is an apt tribute, for the wine is both typical of Alsace and of Albrecht: sturdy, deep golden, capable of age and development, with bright apple and peach fruit in its youth that slowly changes to the richer, toothier tang of winter apples with the whisper of autumnal spices. The wine pulled out and emphasized freshly prepared cooking spices in the vegetable stew---Alsace whites do tend to find resonance in the aromas and flavors of the foods with which they are often served---to make it an immediately obvious pairing.
Note: If the variety of Pinot Gris signals to you the expectation of that vast ocean of bland, insipid and essentially characterless thin white wine enjoying current popularity in the cocktail wine market—disabuse yourself: Alsace Pinot Gris is an entirely different style, much more full-bodied and robust and flavorful and complex than the forgettable plonk of most Pinot Gris.
Trimbach Pinot Blanc, Alsace, 2007
Trimbach has the enviable and hard-earned reputation as one of the most consistently dependable producers of wine in the world. Year after year, in good vintages, bad vintages and mediocre vintages, the family is capable of turning out wines of impressive style and quality. And they’ve been doing it since 1626. The 2007 Pinot Blanc is no exception. Something of a sleeper grape, in that it rarely achieves any attention or acclaim, it is related to both Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris, yet maintains its own quite humble nature. In Alsace, however, it is treated seriously and produces seriously good wine---never stratospheric, mind you; never bombastic or over-manipulated, or tricked out (what the wine geeks call “spoofed up”); simply excellent yeoman wine made to grace the table in style.
And that’s exactly what the Trimbach Pinot Blanc does. The juicy-fresh pear of its youth has matured and ripened up; the original bright acidic zest of lemon has toned down just a notch from its original exuberance; and the wine has mellowed and rounded, putting on a little weight (and haven’t we all?) and picking up a touch of baking spice along the way. The flavors of the wine mingle nicely with the vegetable stew and the natural acidity cleanses the palate for the next brimming spoonful, making for a perfect food and wine partnership.
Hearty winter foods and sturdy white wines of Alsace: it’s a tasty combination. Let that wine mature for a few years, and it’s an even better combination.