Sunday, September 26, 2010

2008 Riesling Grand Cru Schoenenbourg, Raymond Renck

Michelangelo claimed it was his job to free the sculpture that is trapped in a piece of marble. The same idea I get whenever I drink a  young, fruit-packed wine that still hides the minerality, complexity and finesse that within seven years will make it a true  vin de terroir. It is easy to talk about the virtues of cellaring (and waiting), but at the same time these wines give a sensuous, undemanding and disarming delight.

2008 Riesling Grand Cru Schoenenbourg from Raymond Renck in Beblenheim has a deep greenish-yellow colour. The wine smells of luke warm apple pie, lemon and a little chocolate. The taste is fruit-driven with a complete mid-palate and a fine structure with Schoenenbourgs obvious minerality and grapefruit-like structure. Yummy! Price: € 10.

Monday, September 13, 2010

2002 Riesling Grand Cru Altenberg de Bergheim, Gustave Lorentz

Few things in the wine world is so impressive as to develop and maintain a house style. It's a bit like ''Mom's apple pie'', there is really no single secret that makes them so special, but it is the whole .... Top wines from Gustave Lorentz always express a unique style: fragrant, soft and caressing but still form with vibrant acidity and an abundance of ripe fruit. Lorentz wines never wines that smell like gas stations, which proves that the wines are picked perfectly ripe.

2002 Riesling Grand Cru Altenberg de Bergheim is straw coloured. The scent is seductive with a thousand kinds of flowers, acacia honey and blood orange. The flavour is full, balanced and smooth as velvet, while the acidity wraps the sweet fruit in the finest silk. A wine to share with someone you really love. Price: € 14.60 (ones upon a time), now € 22.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Riesling Grand Cru Wineck-Schlossberg, Meyer-Fonné

With respect to the Grands Crus of Alsace, there is certainly a premier, second and third division. In this hierarchy, no one is making a more rapid climb than Wineck-Schlossberg. This unrivalled development is due to the skill and dedication of (relatively) young producers such as  Meyer-Fonné, Bernhard and Klur, all in Katzenthal. To addition to this group, others such as the likes of Paul Blanck and  J.B. Adam make a very important contribution to the reputation of W-S.

2008 Riesling Grand Cru Wineck-Schlossberg from Meyer-Fonné in Katzenthal has superbly clean aromas of almonds, mango, smoke and minerals. The taste is medium-bodied, generous, and succulent with loads of mature fruit in addition to wonderful acidity and structure that leads to an extraordinary finish. My gosh!  Price: € 13,50.