WTN: A Big Alsace Tasting

We had a big Alsace tasting today. I only got to taste about a fourth of what was on offer. It was crowded, noisy and pours were small so my notes aren't very good. I'm sure my opinions would vary considerably if I could sit down with these wines for a time - I really don't know if these notes are such that they should be put up on the board since I really can't vouch for any degree of consistency in them.

Leon Beyer - I really liked their offerings. Before I had found them to be stylishly austere like Trimbach, but maybe my tastes have changed as I didn't find them as austere now as before.

Riesling 2005 - nice, ripe and typical for the grape and area. Always a pleasant drop IMO, but this year not as austere as usually.

Riesling Réserve 2001 - a more pungent nose, more depth, minerality and a teasing touch of sweetness.

Riesling Comtes d'Eguisheim Riesling 2001 - a bit closed, but showed as an elegant and pure wine with great length and intensity.

Pinot Gris Réserve 2002 - the nose is archetypal Alsace PG IMO: spice and glue. Nice enough.

Gewurztraminer 2005 - pungent aromas of all the usual Gewurzy stuff (lychees, roses, etc. ad inf. no need to write it all again is there? It smells like Gewurz - 'nuff said?). It is rather dry and has fair acidity for the grape. Not bad at all.

Gewurztraminer Comtes d'Eguisheim 2000 - spicy and mineral, not very intense, but balanced and very enjoyable. Nice stuff.

Pinot Noir Comtes d'Eguisheim 2003 - no oak, but stems included so there is an almost woody/green/full smell to it that I find very attractive. The palate is a bit soft but still quite nice. A nice variant of the Pinot Noir theme - I rather liked it.

Gewurztraminer Vendages Tardives 1998 - spicy and earthy like the Cd'Eg but with of course sweetness and great intensity. Very fine acidity for the variety.


Domaine Bott-Geyl - my first encounter with this Domaine. I found them well made wines - impressive even -, but this impressiveness might be the problem I had with them. I would prefer a touch more elegance and a bit less power. How do the others view these wines?

Pinot d'Alsace 2004 - pungent and mineral nose. Fresh palate with a teasing touch of sweetness though fully dry. Nice.

Riesling Grafenreben de Zellenberg 2004 - A floral nose with purity of Rieslingfruit. The palate was dry and forceful: impressive but rather inelegant. A nice wine, but I would prefer a touch less muscularity.

Pinot Gris Les Eléments 2004 - the nose is too thick and lacks some freshness. The palate is a bit sweet but has nice acidity for the grape and the aftertaste has some nice mineral notes to it. Quite nice.

Gewurztraminer Les Eléments 2004 - a rather stereotypical Gewurz nose, lacking a bit in subtlety (even more so than normal for the grape!), but pleasant enough. The palate is a bit sweet but stays fresh and has fair acidity for the grape. Fair.

Riesling Grand Cru Mandelberg 2005 - a very pure expression of Rieslingfruit and minerals: quite a delightful albeit young and tight nose. The palate is forceful, mineral, dry and very impressive though suffering again from a bit too much muscularity.

Pinot Gris Grand Cru Sonnenglanz 2004 - a very full on nose of spice and glue: opulent but not elegant. Sweetish, with fair acidity - it's nice, but not really my preferred style.

Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Sonnenglanz 2004 - remarkably similar in style and build to the Pinot Gris: were it not for a slight rosewater note, I would not be able to tell them apart. But it does have fair acdity and stays fresh. Decent.

Pinot Gris GC Sonnenglanz Vendanges Tardives 2001 - intensely rotten, with typical PG aromatics also in good evidence. Fantastic acidity for the grape. Very nice if rather foursquare.

Gewurztraminer GC Sonnenglanz SGN 2002 - a powerful, inelegant nose of petrol (in Gew?) and botrytis. It is hard to see much else in this wine than botrytis, actually.


Domaine Marcel Deiss - hasn't really been to my liking, and this tasting didn't change that.

Schoffweg 2003 - funky and earthy, a bit lifeless and monotonous smelling. It has some superficial sweetness and ripe fruit but just doesn't do anything for me, even though it has better acidity than most 2003s and has plentiful minerality. It still seems a bit plodding.

Grasberg 2003 - a pungent, mineral and big nose. Blowsy and inelegant.

Burg 2003 - Sweeter and more floral nose than the previous two, nice minerality, but rather clunky.

Altenberg de Bergheim Grand Cru 2003 - closed nose. Blowsy palate, no acidity, lifeless.


Domaine Albert Mann - another name I hadn't tried before. I'm not quite sure what to think of them yet, I must try them in a different environment.

Auxerrois VV 2005 - was quite an impressive wine: it smelled like Muscadet in its mineral and saline glory! Very mineral with a teasing touch of sweetness. Quite impressive, actually.

Riesling Cuvée Albert 2005 - was true to type but unexciting. Dry, a bit too weighty and extracted for my taste, but nice enough.

Pinot Gris Cuvée Albert 2005 - was yeasty and mineral on the nose - a bit strange actually. The palate had nice acidity and was light and fresh for the grape. Decent.

Gewurztraminer 2005 - was surprising, because this was in the more elegant spectrum of Gewurz: it wasn't a caricature of the grape; it wasn't a full bosomed and voluptious wine, though it was of course full bodied like the grape usually is. The acidity was more than fair considering that this too often is a rather soft variety. I liked it quite a bit.

Riesling Grand Cru Schlossberg 2005 - a nice wine, but a bit odd in that it was mineral and dry and forceful yet with a curious almost soft feeling to it! A bit of a paradox. I won't mind at all tasting it again, but I do wonder if I will truly like it.

Pinot Gris Grand Cru Furstentum 2004 - impressive, mineral, spicy nose - true to the grape. The palate is also mineral, but has a strange note to it - almost vanillary!? Very odd.

Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Furstentum VV 2004 - a second very impressive Gew from the winery: there is a core of minerality that keeps the all too often blowsy aromatics of the grape in check. Complex, nicely acidic for the grape, mineral palate. Very nice.

Pinot Gris Altenbourg VT 2003 - a very mineral nose with some true PG aromatics. The palate isn't too flabby, but is a bit softer than I would like, sweet but not overdone. Very fair.


Domaines Viticoles Schlumberger

Pinot Blanc "Princes Abbés" 2004 - clean and pure and mineral and refreshing. What more could one ask for in a cheap white? Nice!

Riesling "Princes Abbés" 2004 - like the PB but with Riesling aromatics. Nice!

Riesling GC Saering 2005 - was a rather rustic variation on the Rieslingfruit theme, but it was nice and balanced and mineral. I like it.

Pinot Gris Grand Cru Kessler 2001 - was true to the grape in its aromas, had nice complexity, a touch of sweetness but seemed drier than the 40g/l RS would imply, nice acidity and perhaps the tiniest touch of botrytis. Very impressive.

Gewurztraminer GC Kitterlé 2003 - mineral nose, but confected otherwise. Blowsy.

Gewurztraminer GC Kessler 2002 - true Gew aromatics, but a bit boring on the nose as it lacks a mineral core. The palate on the other hand has great minerality (how come it wasn't showing on the nose then?) and nice acidity and is intense and quite lovely.

Gewurztraminer VT Cuvée Christine 2001 - was mineral and pungent and almost Riesling-like in its slightly petrolly aromas. Good acidity keeps it from becoming cloying. Nice stuff!


Louis Sipp - was another new name (many of them today!). I rather liked the wines for the purity of expression. How do others find these wines?

Sylvaner 2005 – was mineral and fresh, but very short. Nice enough, though.

Pinot Blanc 2005 – was intensely mineral with green apple. Pure.

Riesling 2005 – smelled and tasted like Alsace Riesling. I can’t really ask for anything more. Nice!

Pinot Gris 2005 – a nicely mineral variation of the grape. Pure. Nice.

Pinot Noir 2005 – simple and tart and boring.

Riesling GC Kirchberg de Ribeauvillé 2004 – was pure, mineral and with nice fruit and a touch of RS but almost dry tasting. Tight, but nice.

Riesling GC Kirchberg de Ribeauvillé 2002 – was a spicy, floral variation of the Riesling theme, nice minerals, dry tasting (but IIRC it also has a touch of RS), long. Nice.

Pinot Gris GC Osterberg 2004 – elegant, tight, mineral, a bit sweet but with fine acidity – nice and pure example.

Gewurztraminer GC Osterberg 2004 – smells like Gew; tastes like Gew and is complex and mineral and has nice acidity. Yum!

Pinot Gris GC Kirchberg de Ribeauvillé VT 2001 – glue and spice, i.e. IMO typical Alsace PG. Fantastically intense palate with great acidity and botrytis and length. Really nice.


Trimbach – has usually been a firm favourite with me.

Riesling 2004 – is very dry and pure. It is its typical self: austere yet so lovable.

Riesling Réserve 2004 – like above but deeper scent, dry, not quite so austere.

Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile 2003 – is one of the better (maybe even the best) 2003 Riesling I’ve had. I genuinely liked it – not enough to buy a bottle, but so much that I would never turn down a glass or two if offered. It showed a typical CFE profile but with a slight unfortunate touch of sur maturité. Dry, mineral and long and better acidity than expected.

Pinot Gris Réserve personnelle 2001 – typical PG nose, pure and elegant (if the grape can be called elegant!). The palate is dry and mineral and acidic and as PGs go it is in the more austere range. Very nice.

Gewurztraminer Cuvée des Seigneurs de Ribeaupierre 2000 – was pretty nice and mineral and with some lovely bitter tones to the copious fruit. Fresh, a little bit sweet but balanced palate. Very nice.

Gewurztraminer VT 2000 – intense botrytis and all the usual Gew aromatics. Though typical for the grape, it did have atypical levels of acidity – but I didn’t mind that at all. Very nice.

Gewurztraminer SGN 1994 – bugger. The last bottle that Hubert Trimbach had with him and it was corked when he opened it up for me. 


Domaine Weinbach – I have usually found the wines impressive but unlovable. I tend to find them so concentrated that I never feel like drinking the wines – tasting is enough.

Sylvaner Réserve 2005 – is mineral, dry, forceful – impressive and not so thickly extracted as to make drinking difficult. I liked this quite a bit.

Pinot Blanc Réserve 2005 – this pushes PB to strange limits. It is impressive: it is pure PB in its appley aromas, it is mineral, it is acidic but it is just too much. I want some elegance and lightness. Something IMO is not right when it becomes tiresome to drink a PB because it is so heavy.

Pinot Gris Cuvée Ste Catherine 2005 – spicy and big and impressive but not to my taste.

Gewurztraminer Cuvée Laurence 2004 – true Gew aromas and nicely mineral but too big and concentrated.

Pinot Noir Réserve 2004 – fair, but unexciting.

Riesling GC Schlossberg 2005 – super big and concentrated yet it doesn’t lose its Rieslingness from that. Impressive but I seriously doubt I could drink a glass of it.

Riesling GC Schlossberg Cuvée Ste Catherine 2005 – in comparison to the previous, this is an elegant wine, but in comparison to most others (Z-H excepted) this is pretty big also. These Faller wines are bit ponderous if I may say so. I didn’t say this out loud though because Catherine Faller was pouring the wines for us.

Riesling GC Schlossberg VT 2004 – This stuff rocks. I’m tempted to change my mind about the producer based on this wine alone: an almost absurdly mineral nose, grapefruit. The palate is almost dry tasting though it has 54g/l RS and is mineral and intense and is the essence of Rieslingness. The reason I don’t change my mind is that the sheer concentration of this (though it also has a touch more elegance than the previous wines) is overwhelming.

Thanks for the notes. You got to taste many wines I have never tasted. I did like a Schlumberger Gewurztraminer Fleur recently and have been impressed with Trimbach wines including the Ribeaupierre.

Great notes there Otto. I am a big Sipp fan!
Vanilla and PG from Mann? When I visited a few years back I saw (whisper) some barriques in a corner. When I inquired big smile, a grin and mention of see "what happens to PG in some new oak?!!".

If you find Weinbach overdone, I'd hate to be next to you when you go through the Z-H line.

Nice Tasting Otto,

I'm jealous. It's cool to see so many different house styles under one roof (but it makes for a quite a taste bud workout). I feel like I'm always sticking up for the Deiss-man (the vintage leaves much to be desired) and putting down Schlumberger (Their style is done better across the border in Germany). But I'm glad you liked the Weinbach Riesling GC Schlossberg Vendange Tardive '04. I just picked up a bottle.
Keep on drinkin' the good stuff!


Prost!
Bill

When I visited a few years back I saw (whisper) some barriques in a corner. When I inquired big smile, a grin and mention of see "what happens to PG in some new oak?!!".

Yikes!!

Bill, I haven't really cared for the Deisss (if that's the plural) of the previous vintages either. I'm pretty certain it's the house style I don't like also - it's not only the 2003 vintage of these wines. We seem to see them fairly often in tastings here, so do you mind explaining a bit what you like about them? It might help me see the better side of these wines the next time I come across them.

Randy, I find Z-H to be pretty much like Weinbach - too thick to enjoy, but impressive to taste.

Bill, I haven't really cared for the Deisss (if that's the plural) of the previous vintages either. I'm pretty certain it's the house style I don't like also - it's not only the 2003 vintage of these wines. We seem to see them fairly often in tastings here, so do you mind explaining a bit what you like about them? It might help me see the better side of these wines the next time I come across them.

Otto,

The reason I like Deiss has as much to do with his philosophy as the wines he makes. To Jean-Michel Deiss, the most important aspect of a wine is its terroir, even to the expense of vine varieties. In 2005, the Grand Cru regulations were changed in Alsace (at Deiss's prompting) to allow blends to be labeled as Grand Cru. These blends, he argues, are the original Alsatian wines. They were the preferred method of winemaking in Alsace for hundreds of years leading up to 1918, when single vine bottling began to catch on. While he continues to make varietally labeled wine on the low-end (certainly because it makes sense economically), it pains him to do so. Overall, he uses only the most natural vineyard and winemaking practices in his quest for tradition. -Low yields (25hl/ha for GC), natural yeasts and usually, large old oak casks. This year he will celebrate 10 years of Biodynamic Practices and over 20 organically. He is a radical traditionalist trying to make the wines our great grandparents drank. The wines are certainly not for all, and not as precise (some even use the word "thick" to describe his GC's) as many in Alsace, but expressive of their terroir and the man who made them, they remain.

Prost!
Bill

Randy, I find Z-H to be pretty much like Weinbach - too thick to enjoy, but impressive to taste.

Must be a personal preference thing -- I find them at the top of the heap, along with Boxler and Trimbach.

[David M. Bueker]

I find the Deiss philosophy to be almost as unbearable as his wines. To me they are always sloppy mixtures that don't show any notable sense of place, just as they show no puirty of variety.

Perhaps Alsace went to single variety wines because they are better? Just a thought.

I find the Deiss philosophy to be almost as unbearable as his wines. To me they are always sloppy mixtures that don't show any notable sense of place, just as they show no puirty of variety.

Perhaps Alsace went to single variety wines because they are better? Just a thought.

David,

You're certainly not alone. I had the same discussion with Olivier Humbrecht (Yet another love/hate producer) as the Grand Cru proceedings were going on, and the mere mention of Deiss's name almost brought the man to rage. His wines are indeed bizarre and unique creations and usually don't show well in Alsatian tastings, but I think there's enough room in Alsace for even the Deiss style.


Prost!
Bill

Bill, thanks for the explanation. I do find the wines Deiss makes unique - but unfortunately for my palate, for all the wrong reasons! Like David, I find that the clarity and precicion that I look for in Alsace are lacking in his wines. That may have been the way wines were made in the past, but I also am glad things have changed. As you say, there is room for all these different styles, but my money will go elsewhere.

Randy, of course it's a personal preference. I seem to have lost my belief that even a slight degree of objectivity is possible in vinous matters.

[David M. Bueker]

His wines are indeed bizarre and unique creations and usually don't show well in Alsatian tastings, but I think there's enough room in Alsace for even the Deiss style.

Indeed there is...just not in my cellar.

Deiss always seems to be a real love/hate kind of producer! Very little middle ground!

I'm of two minds with his philosophy and style. Like David, I'm not exactly sure what is wrong with the purity that a single varietal wine provides. This is especially true in Alsace, which (along wioth Germany) seems to me to have the most transparent and pure wine styles around (Chablis too).

But I've also had the pleasure of tasting incredible wines in the Deiss cellar door. Blending can definitely increase the complexity of wines - even transparent wines - and field blends certainy were the norm in many regions (e.g,. the Southern Rhone, many parts of Spain and Portugal) for many years. They certainly create a very different taste profile than any other producers in Alsace.

Like Bill, I guess it's nice to have the option, but I wouldn't want half of all the Alsace producers to move to his philosophy!

My main beef is the cost of his wines! You don't find many here in BC, and when you do, they are pretty pricey.

I'm happy to see you liked the Albert Mann Auxerrois VV. There's a saying that auxerrois is the "invisible" grape of Alsace, because it is so rarely bottled as a varietal. We were quite taken with it here at the shop, and have done well with it, admittedly in part because it has a price point that falls between pinot blanc and pinot gris. Whatever. I completely agree with your assessment regarding the balance between minerality and sweetness.

Otto,

I recently tried the Leon Beyer 2005 Riesling as well and couldn't get past the strong petrol aroma. I've never experienced anything like that before.

You didn't find it as well?

By the way, I love your notes.

John

I recently tried the Leon Beyer 2005 Riesling as well and couldn't get past the strong petrol aroma. I've never experienced anything like that before.

You didn't find it as well?

No, I didn't note such. I am surprised to hear such a young Riesling as having a prominent petrolly note. I often find that Australian Rieslings develop petrol early on, but Alsace in my experience shouldn't quite this early on. Have you tried another bottle also?

-O-

I haven't, but I'll def. get another bottle to compare.

Are pertrolly notes found in certain particular wines?

I haven't, but I'll def. get another bottle to compare.

Are pertrolly notes found in certain particular wines?

I've been meaning to ask about petrol also. I remember reading somewhere (Terry Theise catalogue IIRC but am not sure) that petrol is a scent found specifically in middle aged Riesling, not young or mature. Elsewhere I seem to have found most people talking of it as a flavour related to fully mature Riesling. So, which is it?

John, Usually petrol is only mentioned with Riesling. I have on occasion found it in other wines also: Bonneau du Martray's Corton-Charlemagne seems to be another wine where I tend to get a slight whiff of it.

Nice web site BTW. I just perused it, and it made for some very engaging reading! But on your site you talk of the 2004, not the 2005, Beyer. But my comments still apply: it should not yet have an overpowering scent of petrol. I wouldn't expect any petrol in it yet.

-Otto-

Sorry Otto, you're exactly right. It was a 2004.

Thanks for the nice words.