Wine Focus for May: The wines of Alsace!

[Robin Garr]

This month's topic should be clearly self-defining, and the wines, land, culture, cuisine and terroir of Alsace are so distinctive that it would be good to keep as tight a focus on Alsace as we can.

That being said, of course there is always room for flexibility, so if you live in a region where Alsatian wines are either difficult or impossible to get, we'll certainly be forgiving of reports on Alsace varieties such as Pinot Blanc and Gewurztraminer; Riesling and Pinot Noir are also possible, but there we'd ask that you be particularly attentive to choosing examples in an "Alsatian style." If you need help on this definition, please ask. Actually, I think that defining "Alsace style" might be a worthy additional function for this month's conversations.

OK, then! I am really revved up on Alsatian wines, so let's see what's in the opper.

Does anyone have an opinion on some of the blended white wines of Marcel Deiss? Down to Earth Wines is offering some of the 2010 which blend Riesling with Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris or another blend of Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer and Savagnin Rose'.

[Robin Garr]

I found this Alsatian "cellar orphan" in my notes files ... good wine, but apparently never published:

Domaines Schlumberger 2011 “Les Princes Abbés” Alsace Pinot Blanc ($16.99)

Clear, light straw color. Simple and fresh white fruit, subtle melon and kiwi on the nose and palate, good medium body and sufficient, not biting acidity. Well rounded and enjoyable wine, good for sipping or service with cheese, veggies or seafood. U.S. importer: Maisons, Marques & Domaines USA Inc., Oakland, Calif. (Oct. 5, 2013)

Food Match: Sichuan-style prawns* in chili-garlic sauce with broccoli, perfect!

____
* Plant-based "prawns" from Sophie's kitchen ...

I'll start the ball rolling with a 2011 Seltz Res. Pinot Blanc. from Alsace This was excellent with a viscous texture and lots of spicey pear and a touch of peach flavors. Medium straw in color with 14.5% abv. $18.00 by Ohio prices

[Robin Garr]

I'll start the ball rolling with a 2011 Seltz Res. Pinot Blanc ...

Thanks for re-posting, Jim!

[David M. Bueker]

Does anyone have an opinion on some of the blended white wines of Marcel Deiss? Down to Earth Wines is offering some of the 2010 which blend Riesling with Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris or another blend of Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer and Savagnin Rose'.

Not a fan. I find the wines too big/rich. Not goopy in the manner of many ZH wines, but just too heavy.

Alsace Pinot Gris Cuvée Réservée 2009 - Domaine Pierre Schillé - Alc.13%.

This is an unfamiliar estate recommended by M.Breton of la Cave de Deauville.

Colour is deepening and the nose is round and rich with notes of noble glue and spice. Body is medium/full with a quite dark complexion, good depth, burnished white fruit and subjectively a sensation of a certain sweetness probably due to low acidity and not likely to be reflected by the amount of RS in analysis.We paired it with St.Pierre (a fine fish - translation please) in a rich sauce and then with cheese. Apart from with Gorgonzola, which worked well, I would have preferred a subjectively drier wine but we had no difficulty in finishing the bottle. PG is not my favourite Alsatian offering (Riesling is) but this is a good example of its type and might have been excellent with, say, foie gras.

That is a new name Tim..exclusive to Normandy buyers .

I was pleased to enjoy a bottle of NV Lucien Albrecht Cremant d'Alsace rose yesterday. I don't know any of the technical details, but I get a superb combination of yeast and fruit, medium bubbles, and a full body, but still plenty of crisp acidity. It's versatile at table, serving as an aperitif, pairing with an asparagus and goat "feta" frittata, or when mixed with creme de cassis in a "kir d'Alsace". I paid $22, but that was a pricey store and most of the folks out east should be able to do better than that. One of my favorite values; it's really hard to justify a rose Champagne when this is available for half the price. Very Good+.

2011 W. Gisselbrecht Pinot Blanc (Alsace, France)

Just had a glass with light lunch at local winebar downtown.This wine has a fresh, elegant nose with pears and apples to the forefront. The same fruit flavors are found on the palate. Its crispy acidity makes it a perfect pairing for light appetizers when out on the patio. $18 on the shelf I believe.

I was pleased to enjoy a bottle of NV Lucien Albrecht Cremant d'Alsace rose yesterday. I don't know any of the technical details, but I get a superb combination of yeast and fruit, medium bubbles, and a full body, but still plenty of crisp acidity. It's versatile at table, serving as an aperitif, pairing with an asparagus and goat "feta" frittata, or when mixed with creme de cassis in a "kir d'Alsace". I paid $22, but that was a pricey store and most of the folks out east should be able to do better than that. One of my favorite values; it's really hard to justify a rose Champagne when this is available for half the price. Very Good+.

This is $19.99 at Total Wine. I'll be picking up this and some other Lucien Albrecht wines (all around $20) to give them a try and participate in this thread.

Alsace Grand Cru Schlossberg Riesling 2012 – Albert Mann – Alc.13% - (c.€35)
I have been in the habit of ageing Alsace Riesling of this calibre but a couple of premox experiences (one from Zind-Humbrecht) make me wonder about the wisdom of this. Failing the complexity of age, the first flush of youth is best. Locally fished lobster provided the ideal occasion. The nose was subdued at first but with swirling attractive aromas of white fruit, spice and mineral came up. The medium/full bodied palate showed its class with depth, backbone, length and lively acidity providing an ideal backdrop to the aromas from the nose. I guess that this one will avoid premox because it goes more for gothic structure and restraint rather than baroque opulence like Z-H. Very good.

This one went down so quickly that more Riesling was called for, this time from Germany.

Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg Riesling Kabinett – 15 – 2004 – von Schubert – Alc. 8%
Colour was deeper than that of the previous. The nose was much more extrovert and expressive with a complex combination of fruit and mineral, including discreet hydrocarbons which I love but which some gurus now claim to be a fault. As befits the Ruwer the body was lighter than the previous with an airy grace which melded the still fresh but complex fruit, gentle sweetness and mouth-watering Mosel acidity into delicious whole. This is food friendly Kabinett as I like it and made me forget a relatively clumsy and more overtly sweet Abtsberg 2004 QbA which I drank about a week previously (in some vintages the QbA is delicious). Excellent.

Tim, I will always remember my visit to Mann in the late 90s. Not that well-known at the time, all the wines were exceptional and I really enjoyed my visit.

Bob, I've another from Mann to come; an Auxerrois VV closed by screwcap and bought that way in a French shop!

I was pleased to enjoy a bottle of NV Lucien Albrecht Cremant d'Alsace rose yesterday. I don't know any of the technical details, but I get a superb combination of yeast and fruit, medium bubbles, and a full body, but still plenty of crisp acidity. It's versatile at table, serving as an aperitif, pairing with an asparagus and goat "feta" frittata, or when mixed with creme de cassis in a "kir d'Alsace". I paid $22, but that was a pricey store and most of the folks out east should be able to do better than that. One of my favorite values; it's really hard to justify a rose Champagne when this is available for half the price. Very Good+.

This is $19.99 at Total Wine. I'll be picking up this and some other Lucien Albrecht wines (all around $20) to give them a try and participate in this thread.

Dear Doug,
That's interesting, I've only ever seen the sparkling wines in California, though I see that the Total Wine in Sacramento also carries it (paging Mike Filigenzi!).

I like the NV Lucien Albrecht Cremant d'Alsace and have one bottle that has been around for probably at least two years. Will it be OTH do you think? I'm not sure how well the NV sparkling wines hold up.

I like the NV Lucien Albrecht Cremant d'Alsace and have one bottle that has been around for probably at least two years. Will it be OTH do you think? I'm not sure how well the NV sparkling wines hold up.

Has it been kept in a cool, dark place? I'd be surprised if it was old. [I keep meaning to age one, but they never seem to last.]

2009 Ziegler Gerwurztraminer; very nice for the price of approx. 15$. Good acidity with a bit of spicey pear fruit but NO rose petal and slightly viscous. abv of 13%. If deeply discounted to 10$ or less, would buy more but not really that memorable. Sweetness index was a "5" on a scale of 1-9 but it seemed more like a "2". I also love the Albrecht Rose sparklers but am fresh out. At 10$-13$ they were quite the deal.

In the spirit of getting wines that are available to everyone, I stopped by the local Beverages and More, and found the Alsace section smaller than I remembered it. Just two wines, a pinot blanc and a riesling, both from "Vineyard Partner" Fleurelle.

Screen Shot 2014-05-07 at 10.00.27 PM.png

I found a few mentions online, but it seems like BevMo has exclusive US distributions. Where's the Hugel or Trimbach? We'll see how the two Fleurelles show.

Domaine Barmes Buecher 2010 Gewurztraminer Herrenweg, maybe already posted on this wine but will add another. This was quite sweet 6-7% R.S. (my guess) but with no indication on label. My last bottle at Easter had much better acidity which made it seem better balanced. This bottle still had sufficient acidity to not be flabby but given the producer and vineyard I was looking for much more when I originally bought a case (abv of 12.5%). This wine demonstrates a problem with Alsatian wine in general. With such wide variability in R.S. and only a few producers indicating R.S., there needs to be some labeling consistency and declaration as to both R.S. and acidity, especially with a grape as acid-unstable as Gewurztraminer.

Domaine Barmes Buecher 2010 Gewurztraminer Herrenweg, maybe already posted on this wine but will add another. This was quite sweet 6-7% R.S. (my guess) but with no indication on label. My last bottle at Easter had much better acidity which made it seem better balanced. This bottle still had sufficient acidity to not be flabby but given the producer and vineyard I was looking for much more when I originally bought a case (abv of 12.5%). This wine demonstrates a problem with Alsatian wine in general. With such wide variability in R.S. and only a few producers indicating R.S., there needs to be some labeling consistency and declaration as to both R.S. and acidity, especially with a grape as acid-unstable as Gewurztraminer.

Yep. With Germans you can eventually educate yourself to the point where it's not ususally a surprise, but Alsace doesn't have that. Especially with Gewurz, as you say, where I also find that it tends not to show aromatically well unless fully ripe.

Yes Wnissen, I believe you are quite correct. Any rose petal/minerality/chalk/etc. that might be available is overpowered by the R.S. even if it is well balanced.

2002 Trimbach Pinot Gris Reserve

This wine is part of the stash that I bought out of the country club cellar. The label is different from the standard Trimbach such that I didn't recognize it as one of their wines initially. It came along with the Rieslings that I was after and I did not have much hope that it had aged well. At 12 years old this is by far the oldest pinot gris we have ever tasted.

Color: Amber-ish diluted tea appearance. Very dark by pinot gris standards.

Nose: A hint of fresh flowers.

Taste: Some lemon/citrus flavor which dissolves into a sort of rich minerality which is hard to describe. Almost no sweetness, which is right up my alley. The finish is quite complex with barnyard and forest note that I would normally not associate with a pinot gris. After about 30 minutes in the glass the wine began to dissolve into an amalgam of disjointed stuff. A very interesting and enjoyable wine which is probably about at the end of its useful life.

Not that I would recommend cellaring a pinot gris for 12 years, but I would not shy away from a 12 year old model if I ran into one at the right price.