Alsace Wines

Crémant, Charles Baur

2012-01-29T22:09:00.004+01:00

Although there are exceptions, there are two basic conditions to make really good Crémant d'Alsace: Chardonnay and long storage sur lattes . Chardonnay makes the wine crisp and elegant. Sur lattes is the period when the second fermentation takes place in the bottle, when the mousse is formed and dead yeast is broken down so that the wine gets its' complexity. In Alsace, the wine should pas at least nine monthssur lattes which is way too short.

Crémant from Charles Baur in Eguisheim spends 36 months sur lattes and has an aroma of toasted bread, citrus, ripe apple and cola beans. The taste is balanced with a fine structure, and the eight grams of residual sugar is easily supported by the fresh acidity. Price: € 9.

2007 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Pfersigberg, Odile Weber

2012-01-15T18:13:00.000+01:00

Odile is an important name in Alsace since Sainte Odile is the patron saint of Alsace. She was born blind in 662 A.D., as the daughter of her cruel father Etichon, Duke of Alsace. During her time on earth she managed to bring back her brother from the dead, regain her own sight through prayers and make her father build a monastery in Hohwald close to Andlau, southwest of Strasbourg. Odile was canonized 1807.

2007 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Pfersigberg 2007 by Odile Weber in Eguisheim offers a fresh nose with lilac, minerals, ripe stone fruits and honey. The taste is medium bodied and elegant with savoury fruit, supported by high acidity and a minerality typical of the terroir. Really good! Price: € 12.

Riesling Clos Windsbuhl, Zind-Humbrecht

2012-01-05T20:01:00.002+01:00

Clos Windsbuhl is located relatively high, at 300-350 m and has a cool microclimate. The bloom is usually two weeks later than at, say, Grand Cru Brand in Colmar. This year, however, spring came early and the grapes were allowed sit a long as 120 days on the vines. Perhaps it is the explanation for wine's amazing complexity.

2007 Riesling Clos Windsbuhl from Zind-Humbrecht in Turckheim has golden yellow, dense color. The nose is tight and clean with flint, coriander, dates and chocolate. The taste is very dry, crisp with a steel-like, clean acidity and plenty of minerality and grapefruit peel in the long finish. 13.1% alcohol, a mere 1.4 grams of residual sugar per liter. Price: € 60.

2007 Riesling Grand Cru Saering, Schlumberger

2011-12-13T21:19:00.000+01:00

Take a skillful producer, one of the most reliable years in memory, the worlds' greatest variety, a good vineyard and you can't go wrong. Although Saering does not have the punch of its' neighbors Kessler and Spiegel, the accessible style makes this wine a real charmer.

2007 Riesling Grand Cru Saering from Schlumberger in Geubwiller is medium yellow. It has a typical and attractive grape aroma of rubber, lemon peel and fried apple pie. The taste is medium-bodied with a slightly agressive acidity, smooth and attractive fruit and apples in the aftertaste. Price: €18.

2008 Riesling Grand Cru Spiegel, Dirler-Cadé

2011-11-19T15:33:00.000+01:00

In a sense it is a tragedy that most Alsace wines from 2008 will be comsumed way to early.This vintage gave wines with high levels of noble acidity - tartric acid - as well as excellent aromatic complexity and moderate sugar levels. There is only one advice to give - stock up!

2008 Riesling Grand Cru Spiegel from Dirler-Cadé in Bergholtz is medium golden yellow. The aroma is huge with mano, honey, pineapple, apple sauce and a whiff of rubber. The taste is like an iron fist, loaded with layers of focused fruit and sandy structure of acidity. No perception of sugar whatsoever. Those who have patience will be richly rewarded. Price: €18.

2008 Riesling Steinacker, Louis Sipp

2011-11-05T12:58:00.001+01:00

It is easy to make the false assumption that a terroir in Alsace need to have an ancient history to produce good wines. However, only few lieux-dits formed after the last glaciation have a strong reputation. These are Herrenweg (notable farmed by Zind-Humbrecht), Clos des Capucins (the vineyard surrounding domaine Weinbach) and Steinacker (of Ribeauvillé). The wines from these soils offer may not be the most complex, but are full of pure pleasure.

2008 Riesling Steinacker from Louis Sipp in Ribeauvillé is medium golden yellow. It has a already a surprisingly developed, rich aroma with petrol, honey, oranges and yellow apples. The taste is medium-bodied with plenty of fruit, a fresh and clean acidity and a certain astringency of grapefruit peel in the finish. A charmer with many qualities. Price: €10.

2007 Riesling Grand Cru Pfersigberg, Bruno Sorg

2011-10-14T19:17:00.002+02:00

Year after year, François Sorg, son of Bruno, puts out a range of pure, complex, lovely wines that are great illustrations of their terroir. The top-range Rieslings are made from Grand Cru Florimont in Ingersheim and Grand Cru Pfersigberg in Eguisheim. While the former defines purity and elegance, the latter defines complexity and minerality. However, they share the two most important features of any wine of quality - personality and balance.

2007 Riesling Grand Cru Pfersigberg from Bruno Sorg in Eguisheim offers complex, superb and deep aromas of grapefruit, rubber, coffee, ripe exotic fruits and - more importantly - the soils of Eguisheim just after rain. The taste has a trace of bitterness, loads of mature fruit and mouthwatering acidity, but most of all the structure and minerality are first class. A Riesling just like I want it. Price: €11.

2008 Pinot Blanc Saint-André, Rémy Gresser

2011-10-06T15:05:00.001+02:00

Along with Val d'Agly in Roussillon, Alsace has the most complex geology in the whole of France and thus in the world. The youngest soils are formed by sand, gravel and stone were deposited from running meltwater that formed deep river beds by the end of the last glaciation 10 000 years ago. Apart from the sheer granite, the oldest soils consist of shale that is approximately 450 million years old! And no other soil type gives such an amazing combination of ripeness, texture, freshness, elegance and finesse that shale!

2008 Pinot Blanc Saint-André from Rémy Gresser in Andlau has an amazingly complex nose, with orange, bay leaves, anise, smoke and ripe butter-pear. The taste is medium bodied, silky and elegant with soothing fruit that is in perfect harmony with a racy, good acidity that is not the least aggressive. Price: € 7.

2007 Pinot Gris, Agathe Bursin

2011-09-19T21:09:00.003+02:00

Les Divine d'Alsace is an association of female winemakers in Alsace. Besides Agathe Bursin, Melanie Pfister (DahlenHeim), Dominique Schoenheitz (Wihr-au-Val), Veronique Muré (Rouffach), Marie Zusslin (Orschwihr) and Sylvie Spielmann (Bergheim) and many others are among the members. Maybe it's my imagination, but I have never tasted a heavy, sticky or sloppy wine from one of them. Least of all from Agatha Bursin, who with almost pedantic care makes small masterpieces from all grape varieties.

2007 Pinot Gris from Agatha Bursin in Westhalten has scents of almond, clementine, ripe but not dried apricots, revieling grape material that is perfectly healthy. The taste is medium bodied, with zesty acidity and a long finish packed with clean, ripe fruit. A very well made wine with a long life ahead of it. Price: € 9www.alsace-wine.net/p/bursin.shtml

2009 Pinot Gris Grand Cru Furstentum, Albert Mann

2011-09-04T17:57:00.000+02:00

Furstentum is a heterogeneous Grand Cru located high above the village Kientzheim due west of Colmar. Although the vineyard is located in due south, Furstentum has an ideal microclimate. Here, the two families who constitute the firm Albert Mann, Maurice and Jacky Barthelme with wives, make biodynamic Riesling, Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer of remarkable class and quality. Furthermore, all products, from the popular "Edelzwicker" Senteurs des Vignes to the Grand Cru wines from Pfersigberg, Hengst, Schlossberg, Steingrubler and Furstentum are crafted with incredible skill and typical of their terroir.

2009 Pinot Gris Grand Cru Furstentum from Albert Mann in Wettolsheim has a golden, brilliant color. The aroma is wonderfully fresh with apricot, smoke and toffee. The taste is rich and complex with a velvety elegance and very good structure, whereas the fresh acid easily carries the sweetness and adds to the eternal aftertaste. Price: € 20

2008 Pinot Noir Barrique, Clément Lissner

2011-08-11T22:12:00.002+02:00

There are many wine lovers who turn away from "modern" alcohol-fueled, overly extracted wines that go directly from the youthful austerity to over-the-hill. There is a new ideal emerging of elegance and complexity where the terroir is allowed to shine through. It is on this segment that Pinot Noir from Alsace has a, increasingly promising, future.

2008 Pinot Noir from Clément Lissner in Wolxheim has a bright cherry red color. The aroma is smooth with vanilla, tar, black cherry, chocolate and licorice.
The taste is medium bodied, silky and elegant with ripe fruit that has wonderful fresh acidity, a distinctive minerality and a light, elegant finish, with subtle and mature tannins and good length. A harmonious wine that probably developed during 10 years. I wish I had more bottles. € 9.

2005 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Spiegel, Dirler-Cadé

2011-08-05T16:16:00.002+02:00

Organic wines is on march across France, especially in Alsace. Those who work organically, without using synthetic pesticides or fertilizers, can be certified in accordance with AB, Agriculture Biologique, by Ecocert. Those who also works biodynamically may be certified as Demeter or Biodyvin. Dirler-Cadé makes superb wines from the Grands Crus Spiegel, Saering, Kessler and Kitterlé and is certified in accordance with AB and Biodyvin.

2005 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Spiegel from Dirler-Cadé in Bergholtz has a complex aroma of cinnamon, cloves, ginger, white raisins, red apples and ripe stone fruits. The taste is just over medium bodied with a caressing sweetness that is perfectly balanced by the ample acidity, and a superb length with complex fruit intermingled with a refreshing minerality. Price: €20.

2008 Pinot Gris Tradition, Hugel

2011-07-29T11:34:00.003+02:00

The family business Hugel making enormous efforts for the benefit of Alsace. The importance simply can not be over-rated. Etienne Hugel, who personalizes the Hugel spirit world-wide, markets Alsace wines worldwide, especially in Asia. The quality of all of Hugels' wines is high and increasingly better. The product line "Tradition" is made from grapes from their vineyards and are always fine wines with character and depth. The price is also very reasonable in relation to the high quality.

2008 Pinot Gris Tradition from Hugel in Riquewihr offers a fresh, smokey aroma with ripe apricot, almonds and melons. Relatively dry, supple taste with a very fine mid-palate and absolutely clean finish. A superb effort with a perfect definition. The 2008 vintage, 1/3 of the wine went through malo-lactic. Price: €12.60

2005 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Spiegel, Dirler-Cadé

2011-07-20T17:43:00.000+02:00

Alsace wines of Riesling, Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer need 5-7 years of storage before they enter the maturation phase, which lasts at least 20 years, and often up to 50 years. When white wines from New World, and sadly, even many expensive Burgundy from the 1990s and later, fall into pieces even "simple" Alsace wines just keep getting better with age, especially if they come from glorious producers such as Dirler-Cadé.

2005 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Spiegel from Dirler-Cadé in Bergholtz is reddish yellow, with a complex aroma of orange, vanilla, ginger and maturation tones of leather. The taste is homogeneous, fresh and spicy with a refreshing acidity and a sweetness that begins to mellow and never takes over. The wine has almost no bitterness and is therefore perfect for a not-too-mature Munster Gerome. Price: € 15.

2007 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Mambourg, Jean-Marc & Frédéric Bernhard

2011-06-23T21:32:00.000+02:00

Almost all the Grands Crus of Alsace are oriented to the south-east or due south. Warmest of all is the Grand Cru Mambourg, which rises like a ski slope over Sigolsheim. Here the snow melts first, and the wines are most often rich, almost thick with a slightly burned and smoky character. Only the most skilled producers are able to master the power of Mambourg and bring out the finess and the minerality that the terroir offers.

2007 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Mambourg by Jean-Marc and Frédéric Bernhard in Katzenthal is deep yellow. The aroma is extremely complex with plum, elderberry, dried fruits, flint, smoke, and a distinct toasty element as in a mature champagne. The taste is sumptuous and fruity with a hedonistic sweetness which is supported by wonderful acidity and a sandy minerality, supplemented by a slight bitterness in the finish. A bargain! Price: € 13.

2008 Riesling Grand Cru Eichberg, Paul Ginglinger

2011-06-02T16:50:00.000+02:00

Eguisheim is one of the, quite rightly, most visited wine villages of Alsace. With over 1/3 of its viticultural area on Grand Cru territory, and virtually all of the rest area on the slopes - Les Coteaux - Eguisheim offers an abundance of charming wine, full of substance and with great minerality. Among the very top domaines we have Paul Ginglinger which since 2000 has been run by one of the region's most respected young winemakers, Michel Ginglinger.

2008 Riesling Grand Cru Eichberg by Paul Ginglinger in Eguisheim is deep golden in color. After having been given som air, it exhibits explosive aromas of clementines, pineapple, sweet apricot, acacia honey and wet stones. The flavor is full bodied and intense with excellent structure and spine, while the long finish has a wonderful minerality and is perfectly balanced. I love it! Price: € 15.

2007 Pinot Gris Grand Cru Frankstein, Beck-Hartweg

2011-06-02T16:45:00.001+02:00

Grand Cru Frankstein is of eight Grands Crus which lie on granite, the rock that the Vosges mountain range is made up of. Granite is hard and resistant to weathering, typically with thin, sandy soils that provide fast heating during the day, rapid cooling at night and that are well drained. Here, a skilled grower can choose to either create voluptuous, easy-going wines with character of fruit salad, or firm and crystalline wines in a more restrained style, without hints of botrytis. Florian Beck-Hartweg has, with great skill and dedication, chosen the latter course.

2007 Pinot Gris Grand Cru Frankstein by Florian Beck Hartweg in Dambach-la-Ville is medium yellow. The scent is fresh and includes ripe stone-fruit, smoke and cardamom. The taste is medium bodied with great structure and backbone as well as an integrated sweetness (17 grams/litre) that is balanced by ripe and racy acids. A wine made according to Agriculture biologique with a long life ahead of it. Price: € 10.60

2007 Riesling Grand Cru Wineck-Schlossberg, Jean-Marc Bernhard

2011-05-13T19:45:00.000+02:00

Once, long ago, I thought Wineck-Schlossberg was a second-tier vinyard which at best gave crisp, fresh, but one-dimensional wines from its hard granite. Fish wines, in short. But Frédérick Bernhard has used his his wand to prove how wrong that assumption was. For each vintage his wines gain more and more of the substance, complexity and real terroir character.

2007 Riesling Grand Grand Cru Wineck-Schlossberg by Jean-Marc Bernhard in Katzenthal is yellow with a green stick. The nose is initially closed, but after an hour, wonderful aromas of apple, melon, pineapple and chalk burst out of the glass. The taste is medium bodied with excellent focus, high, vibrant acids and a complex and dense palate with grapefrukt in the long finish. Darn good. Price: € 12.

2001 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Osterberg, Louis Sipp

2011-04-25T21:11:00.000+02:00

One can argue that none of the Alsace grape varieties, including Riesling, gain as much on ageing as Gewurztraminer. Young and "Great" Gewurztraminer is often dominated by pronounced, almost pungent aromas of roses, bananas, and spices and the taste may be dominated by a sugary sweetness. But, over time, the aromas gain complexity and become integrated and interwoven, while the sugar in the taste give way for an elegant minerality and acidity, without losing its' charming fruitiness.

2001 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Osterberg by Louis Sipp in Ribeauvillé has a deep yellow color. The scent is multi-dimensional with grapefruit, mint, cardamom, licorice, honey, yellow apples and strawberries (and much more). The taste is fruity but firm and elegant with a silky sweetness in the finish, which includes a fresh acidity and a minerality bordering to saltiness. To drink now, and over 20 more years. Price: € 19.

2009 Riesling Andlau, Marc Kreydenweiss

2011-04-10T21:49:00.001+02:00

Marc Kreydenweiss, one of the pioneers of organic farming, is a name that is mentioned with great respect. He has land on Andlaus three, brilliant Grands Crus, but may be best known for a less prestigious wine-growing vineyard: Clos Rebberg. After a few years where the wines lost zest due to malo-lactic fermentation, he is now back on top!

2009 Riesling Andlau by Marc Kreydenweiss comes from land adjacent to Grand Cru Wiebelsberg. It has a dark, dense yellow color and an open, fresh scent of anise, herbs, grapefruit and a bit of toast. The taste is medium bodied, fruity and broad-shouldered with apples and grapefruit, nice acidity and a clean, long and grapy taste with a fine structure and balance. A lovely bottle for the table. Price: € 10

2007 Riesling Grand Cru Brand, Zind-Humbrecht

2011-03-25T21:46:00.000+01:00

The central, original part of the Grand Cru Brand where Zind-Humbrecht owns land lies in an amphitheater that is oriented due south. The unusually easily weathered granite nourishes the vines and creates an even temperature throughout the day. Therefore, the acids in a Brand are always soft and elegant, never aggressive, while the nose offers ripe fruits and flowers. A Brand can be drunk young but ages splendidly.

2007 Riesling Grand Cru Brand from Zind-Humbrecht in Turckheim is brilliant golden yellow. The scent is bright and extrovert and clean as a mountain lake with well-defined notes of honey, candied lemon, lilac, almond and a barely perceptible hint of petroleum. The taste has amazing volume of caressing and fresh fruit, as well as a wonderfully pure acidity which leads to a long finish with fine grip. A miracle of precision!

2008 Riesling Vignoble d'E, André Ostertag

2011-03-25T21:44:00.000+01:00

Alsace build his greatness on the pure, natural wines that highlight the grape variety and terroir. Wine complexity is normally based on low yields, a long growing season and careful vinification with élevage sur lie. But gradually, the use of oak increases. It is primarily Pinot Gris and Auxerrois which can carry the structure and the flavours that the oak carries with it. Andre Ostertag is famous for bringing up all kinds of wine in oak, but especially for the extremely high quality that characterises all his wines.

2008 Riesling Vignoble d'E from André Ostertag in Epfig is medium yellow with clear green tints. The aroma is forward, more nutty than fruity but young and fresh, with clear hints of toast, gooseberry, lemon meringue, hazelnut and toffee. The taste is medium bodied, very dry, with ripe acids and considerable length. Price: € 15

2007 Pinot Gris Trois Châteaux, Kuentz-Bas

2011-03-25T21:43:00.000+01:00

Kuentz-Bas is a renowned firm that until a decade ago was managed by two cousins. With great terroirs on the Grands Crus Eichberg and Pfersigberg they created well balanced and cellar-worthy wines in a dry and versatile style. Kuentz-Bas was a name which brought respect! But then came an anxious time. The owner duo split in disagreement over almost everything, the quality plunged. In 2004 the firm was taken over by J. B. Adam in Ammerschwihr which has introduced Trois Châteaux as organic product line.

2007 Pinot Gris Trois Châteaux from Kuentz-Bas in Husseren-les-Châteaux are beautifully golden. The scent is powerful, with clear hints of fresh mushrooms, honey, smoke and apple pie. The taste is fruity with a rich mid-palate, fresh acidity and superb length. Kuentz-Bas is back in business! Price: €15.

1971 Riesling Réserve Exceptionnell, Louis Sipp

2011-01-30T20:25:00.001+01:00

It is, of course, a generalization to say that Alsace wines are the worlds' most age-worthy wines. Indeed, there are German Rieslings, Sauternes, Champagnes and Chenin Blanc from the Loire that easily improve for 50 years or more. But the uniqueness of Alsace is that quite "simple" - and affordable - wines can have an almost eternal life, provided that the yields are kept low and the acidity is in place.

1971 Riesling Réserve Exceptionnell by Louis Sipp in Ribeauvillé origins from lieu-dit Steinacker. The color is brilliant and golden.
On the nose, it is compact, with wet wool, lots of citrus, chocolate, nuts and lots of other komponenenter. The taste is absolutely vital, focused and completely dry with stunning acids that highlights layers of fresh fruit and a long, long finish. Incredibly good! Price: € 11 (current vintage).

1998 Riesling Clos Ste Hune, Trimbach

2011-01-14T20:31:00.001+01:00

Sometimes the term "Wine of the Week" feels very inadequate. The wine of the year? The wine of a life-time? In any event, it is a precious gift to have the opportunity to drink one of the world's best wines. A wine for which the intellect is not enough, a wine full of emotions.

1998 Riesling Clos Ste Hune from Trimbach in Ribeauvillé is brilliant golden. Elegant aromas of almonds, petroleum and botrytis. Delicate taste with perfect balance, a velvety texture, and hints arrack. Quite astonishing acids that are unique to Clos Ste Hune. Unusually bold and potent vintage. Superb! € 180.

2010-12-30T22:15:00.001+01:00

In very simple terms, the character of a wine of a certain grape variety is determined by
a) the vintage
b) the producer, and
c) the terroir.
With age, a influence of the terroir increases gradually. The vintage character decreases as acids become softer and sugar become integrated with age. If the producer is skilful - as is Beyer - and has kept the yields low and fermented slowly, time will allow the terroir to be come on display.

2002 Riesling Réserve from Léon Beyer in Eguisheim is medium golden. The bouquet is complex with hazelnuts, warm peaches and the typical, earthy hallmark aromas of Eguisheim. The flavour has gained surprising body and fruit, impeachable balance and a fresh and crisp aftertaste. Wonderful!
Pris: € 15.

008 Riesling Grand Cru Geisberg, Couvent de la Divine Providence

2010-12-19T18:16:00.000+01:00

Monastic culture has not only shaped France, it has also been a prerequisite for the country to be able to develop and refine the wine culture in a unique way. But monastic life is not on top of the French youth's priority list, obviously they find a lot of other attractions. As a consequence of the weak recruitment to the orders, for example, Couvent de la Divine Providence in Ribeauvillé has been forced to cease their wine operation, and from 2006, Trimbach has fully responsible for the superb monastic vineyards.

2008 Riesling Grand Cru Geisberg from Couvent de la Divine Providence has developed aromas of dried figs, orange marmalade, honey and geranium. On the plate it is medium-bodied, rich, fruity and elegant with nice acidity and a wonderful sense of grapefruit peel in the aftertaste.

2007 Riesling Kronenbourg, Bott-Geyl

2010-12-11T22:50:00.000+01:00

Behind some modest vineyard names (lieux-dits) we find, almost invariably, great wines. One of these is Kronenbourg, which is the offshoot east of Grand Cru Schoenenbourg in Riquewihr and Zellenberg. Kronenbourg offers extremely persistent, dry wines from Riesling and Muscat of a more classic cut than the famous neighbor to the west.

2007 Riesling Kronenbourg from Bott-Geyl in Beblenheim has medium yellow color. The aroma is restrained and young with white pears, ripe apples and a low-key spiciness. The taste is very young with layers upon layers of dense fruit, high but ripe acids and monolithic salinitity in the aftertaste. A youthful wine with lots of potential, that is biodynamically grown and certified according to the Agriculture Biologique. Price: € 10.85.

2007 Pinot Noir "F", Beck-Hartweg

2010-12-04T15:25:00.000+01:00

Alsace Grand Cru wines may (almost) only be produced from the four "noble" grapes. However, many growers have love to have some Pinot Noir, Auxerrois and Sylvaner on their prime land. To make the terroir visable for the customers, many chose to name their wines with a clear reference to the Grand Cru in question. That is why we see Pinot Noir "P" (for Pfersigberg), Auxerrois "H" (for Hengst) or Sylvaner "Z" (for Zinnkoepflé).

2007 Pinot Noir "F" from Beck-Hartweg in Dambach-la-Ville has grown on Grand Cru Frankstein. The color is brilliant and show some sign of maturity. On the nose, the wine offers cinnamon, cassis, raspberries and vanilla. The taste is light, fresh and elegant with very good Pinot fruit and a mature tannic structure. Price: € 10.

2008 Pinot Gris Terrasses Hinterburg, J-M Bernhard

2010-11-21T18:52:00.000+01:00

In Katzenthal there are two lieux-dits that are easily confused: Hinterberg which is wedged inside Katzenthal, and Hinterburg which lies along the road from Katzenthal to Turckhiem. Both teroirs are very steep, and also relatively clayey even though they are on the granite (mica), and both are perfectly suited for Pinot Gris. Thanks to the good but not extreme exposure and medium-warm soil the grapes ripen without losing acidity.

2008 Pinot Gris Terrasses Hinterburg from J-M Bernhard in Katzenthal smells of apricots, smoke and fresh mushrooms. The taste is just over medium bodied with embedded sweetness that is more than balanced by the lively, ripe acidity and a great backbone. Definitely deserves its 15/20 from La Revue du Vin de France. Price: € 8.

2007 Riesling Bouxreben, Ziegler-Mauler

2010-10-31T20:37:00.001+01:00

J.J. Ziegler-Mauler is found in Mittelwihr, housed in very modest premises near the square. With only 4.5 hectares and a marketing budget close to zero Ziegler-Mauler belongs to a category of producers that have not yet been discovered by tourists, unlike the French vinmagasinen La Revue du Vin de France and Gault et Millau, who lavishes praise on the company.

2007 Riesling Bouxreben from Ziegler-Mauler in Mittelwihr comes from a lieu-dit near the municipal boundary to Riquewihr. The aroma is intense, between youth and maturity, with hints of roasted nuts, dried fruit and ripe yellow apple. The taste is dry with massive fruit, supported by a good, ripe acidity and a good minerality. A wine with personality. Price: €8.

2008 Auxerrois, Etienne Simonis

2010-10-24T12:02:00.001+02:00

When you are about to taste, or even judge a wine in order to publish your thoughts you undertake a great responsibility. Personally I never convey my first impressions of a wine, I have always tasted the wine at least twice until I write about it. And since no taster get it right every time, I never give negative criticism to any wine or any producer.

2008 Auxerrois from Etienne Simonis in Ammerschwihr has brilliant. medium-deep colour with a tint of grey. The aroma is extremely fruity with pear. pineapple and toffee. The taste is elegant, and surprises with an almost sandy structure from refined tartric acids balancing the perfectly. A wine justly noted as "Coup de coeur" by La Revue du Vin de France. Price: € 5.

2009 Riesling Grand Cru Osterberg, Kientzler

2010-10-10T21:24:00.000+02:00

There are a few producers in Alsace - and perhaps in all of France - which only makes great wines. Frome these few you will encounter nothing obscure, no ups-and-dows and just a natural vintage variation. However, you will find the personality and character in abundance. One of these magicians are Kientzler, who cultivates 10 ha in Ribeauvillé and Bergheim, with the Grands Crus Geisberg and Osterberg as top names. You can find the discrete domaine along the road to Bergheim, surrounded by vines.

2009 Riesling Grand Cru Osterberg from Kientzler in Ribeauvillé has medium yellow, blazing colour. The nose is a little stiff and restrained at the moment, but rich in minerals. Perfectly crafted flavour with great structure, nice acidity and rich fruit hidden under layers of youthful fruit. This will become a great wine! Price: € 23.

2008 Riesling Grand Cru Schoenenbourg, Raymond Renck

2010-09-26T23:00:00.000+02:00

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.

2002 Riesling Grand Cru Altenberg de Bergheim, Gustave Lorentz

2010-09-13T22:25:00.001+02:00

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.

Riesling Grand Cru Wineck-Schlossberg, Meyer-Fonné

2010-09-07T19:31:00.000+02:00

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.

2008 Pinot Gris, René Etienne et Simonis

2010-08-29T21:16:00.000+02:00

Over the last few years I have advocated the key principle that if a producer has a bit too slender Riesling, one will love his Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris. And vice versa . Etienne Simonis is one exception to this rule, because all his wines have a good structure and body without turning falling into the trap of heaviness, clumsiness or too much residual sweetness.

2008 Pinot Gris from René Etienne et Simonis in Ammerschwihr has developed and rich aromas of chocolate and pistachio. It is powerful and fruity, and offers a dry taste with an almost sandy structure and a good bite of acidity. Fabulous on the table for no money at all. Price: € 5.60.

1990 Riesling Patergarten, Paul Blanck

2010-08-19T20:02:00.002+02:00

In 1985, the cousins Philippe and Frédéric Blanck took over after brothers Marcel Blanck and Bernhard Blanck, sons of Paul Blanck. Thereby, they became part of a tradition starting in 1610 when Austrian Hans Blanck made his first wines in Alsace. Thus, this wine is part of the unrivalled Alsatian tradition of family viticulture, more than ever the basis of the commercial success and the increasingly environmentally oriented commitment that prevails all the way from Thann in the south to Marlenheim in the north.

1990 Riesling Patergarten from Paul Blanck in Kientzheim offers fresh, candied lemons, white flowers, honey and tar (!) on the nose. The taste is silky and supple with superb structure (tartaric acid) and freshness combined with lovely fruit that still, after more than 20 years of cellaring, coats the mouth. This is life! Price (of current vintage): €12.

2008 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Sporen, Frédéric Engel

2010-08-16T23:40:00.004+02:00

Currently, a new wine legislation is implemented in France. In Alsace, this means that for every Grand Cru, it will specifically be determined which grapes will be allowed. With respect to Grand Cru Sporen, it will be easy to decide on Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris, more to discuss regarding Riesling while Muscat will not stand a chance. For Schoenenbourg in the same village, Riesling is the ultimate grape but personally, I'm also hoping for Muscat. What a mess it can be! And unfortunately, we dare not believe that terroirs such as Grands Crus Vorbourg, Gloeckelberg, Frankstein and Kirchberg de Ribeauvillé will get right to the Grand Cru Pinot Noir. Or?

2008 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Sporen from Frédéric Engel in Riquewihr has a discrete, wonderful scent of roses, cardamom and luke-warm pineapple. The taste is moderately fruity, medium-bodied and supple with some sweetness, a hint of bitterness. It is wonderfully clean and has firm acids that provide both freshness and structure. The definition of an elegant wine! Price: € 10.

2007 Riesling Ostenberg, Etienne Loew

2010-08-04T16:25:00.000+02:00

Riesling is a grape that can present a wide palette of aromas, from green apple and citrus aromas to honey, pineapple and floral aromas. The fragrances originate from a group of chemicals called terpenes, and there are six such substances which together dominate the scent palette of young Riesling. What we actually experience is the cumulative effect of these substances, not the compounds individually. In the must, terpenes are highly bound to glycosides but are partially released by fermentation. The higher the pH in the fermentation is, the more terpenes are released, adding to the olfactory structure of the wine. Therefore, the berries' must need to be ripe for the aroma to become rich and complex.

2007 Riesling Ostenberg by Etienne Loew in Westhoffen has a developed and complex aroma of orange blossom, ginger and honey. The flavour is rich, mild and supple with a mature and pleasant acidity that slowly evolves on the palate. A wine from oolitic limestone from the Jurassic period which is very similar both in terms of geological origin and aromatic character to a Altenberg de Bergheim. Price: € 10.

2008 Pinot Gris Cuvée des Seigneurs, Eblin-Fuchs

2010-08-02T12:38:00.002+02:00

Zellenberg is a strangely located village, and it looks like it has landed from above on a hill, surrounded by vineyards. The village itself is very quiet, but 6 producers have their premises in the village, most next to the Route des Vins. Geologically, the village sits on a slob of Bundsandstein about 240 million years old,which 40 million years ago was tilted over end on top of younger geological strata. Zellenberg have their own high-class terroirs, such as Grand Cru Froehn, a piece of Grand Cru Schoenenbourg and several Lieux-dits, but all producers also have land in Hunawihr, Riquewihr or both.

2008 Pinot Gris Cuvée des Seigneurs from Eblin-Fuchs has golden yellow color with a slight red tone. The scent is fresh and completely without disturbing fungal elements and offers apricot, chocolate and smoke. The taste is just over medium bodied with firm acidity and an excellent backbone that makes the impression dry and dense. An unusually personal, refreshing and useful Pinot Gris! Price: € 7.25.

2007 Pinot Blanc Auxerrois, Henry Fuchs

2010-07-26T15:14:00.000+02:00

Auxerrois is not a grape you search out because of a characteristic aroma but primarily for a) its taste, and b) its usefulness. But although 7% of the Alsace vineyards are planted with this relative to Chardonnay, it may not be sold under its own name in Alsace and it is normally blended with, and sold as, Pinot Blanc. The structure of the taste is similar to a Chardonnay from Macon: relatively fat, moderate acidity and all in all a wine that matches all kinds of food, white meat as well as fish dishes. And many producers will testify that this as what they put on their own table, day after day.

2007 Pinot Blanc Auxerrois from Henry Fuchs in Ribeauvillé has a very floral, fresh and complex aroma of lilacs, peaches, walnuts, flint and Bassets Allsort. The taste has a very good attack, is dry and crisp, yet offers both substance and weight and a very pleasant salinity. A very good wine from a revived domaine! Price: €5.20

2008 Pinot Blanc Auxerrois, Martin Schaetzel

2010-07-18T21:44:00.000+02:00

One of the virtues of Riesling is that it does need to be boosted by oak in any form. Intstead, the wines made from the worlds' best variety are by nature complex, pure and fruity. Auxerrois, however, is a bit anonymous and had low acidity and picks up som volume from the oak. in addition to Martin Schaetzel producers such as Stirn, Kubler, Lissner and Beck-Hartweg manage to carefully integrate the structure and the vanilla of the oak into their Auxerrois.

2008 Pinot Blanc Auxerrois from Martin Schaetzel has a golden and dense appearance. The generous nose offers warm apple crumb, crème brulée with a generous dose of vanilla and tropical fruits. The taste is perfectly balanced and well structured with mango notes, a slight bitterness resembling yellow grapefruit (pamplemousse) and surprising minerality. A great example of how ageing on oak (élevage en barrique) add qualities to the Auxerrois. Price: € 7.60

2005 Riesling Grand Cru Kastelberg Vielles Vignes, Guy Wach - Domaine des Marronniers

2010-07-10T22:19:00.000+02:00

Have you heard of Guy Wach and Domaine des Marronniers? If not, you're in good company, because of all the top producers in Alsace, Guy Wach is the most discrete. Maybe it's because his firm is small and situated in Andlau, the village with three celebrated Grands Crus, including the absolute pinnacle - Grand Cru Kastelberg. Kastelberg consists of shale that is rich in easily dissolved salts. The soil heats up easily, while clay minerals which are interspersed in the shale layers hold a lot of water that prevents the maturation from being blocked in periods of drought. Shale simply make the grapes ripen perfectly every year.

2005 Riesling Grand Cru Kastelberg Vielles Vignes is golden yellow and viscous. The aroma is complex and developed with a little botrytis, anise, smoke, honey, ginger, roasted almonds and Christmas spices. The flavour is full bodied with some sweetness, crisp and supple acidity and a very long finish. A wine with rare complexity! Price: € 15.

2007 Edelzwicker Sélection du Gourmet, Emile Herzog

2010-07-10T00:08:00.004+02:00

Say "Edelzwicker" and many will frown. But although most Edelzwicker are wines that are offered on 1-liter bottles almost for free, it is wrong to generalise. Because one can make Edelzwicker in many ways and with varying level of ambitions. At worst, it is hard-pressed must from high yield sites on the Plaine d'Alsace. But better is, if it is done from surplus, high quality must for which the vat intended lacked space, or - as in this case - if it is deliberately made from co-planted grapes, grown in a well-tended vineyard with a reasonable yield.

2007 Edelzwicker Sélection du Gourmet from Emile Herzog Turckhiem is made from Chasselas, Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris. The scent is fresh and peppery spicy but also contains green apples, apricot and hazelnut. The taste is clean and fresh with moderate body, youthful fruit and a hint of bitterness (from Gewurztraminer) in the finish. Lovely on the table! Price: € 5.60.

2009 Pinot Noir Strangenberg, Agathe Bursin

2010-06-25T17:37:00.002+02:00

Not only is it a privilige to enjoy a tasting in the minimalistic living room of Agathe Bursin, to try a barrel sample of her extraordinary Pinot Noir is heaven. It is logical that the last couple of years, La Revue du Vin de France has selected her reds as being among the best of Alsace. It grows on Strangenberg, the hill which connects Grand Cru Vorbourg with Grand Cru Zinnkoepfle, where a calcareous bedrock and a protected exposure provide perfect conditions for Pinot Noir.

2009 Pinot Noir Strangenberg from Agathe Bursin in Westhalten bursts of varietal aromas: black cherries, burned rubber, blackberries, vegetables and Seville oranges. The taste has great volume and is saturated with fresh and vibrant fruit. A simply stunning barrel sample that will be released in June 2011 after 18 months on oak. Price: € 14.00.

2007 Muscat Reserve, Frey-Sohler

2010-06-20T20:09:00.002+02:00

Sadly enough, the vineyards between St Hippolyte in the south and Mittelbergheim in the north do not catch the attention that they deserve. Maybe it is because ikonic wineproducers are missing. Nevertheless, many very good wines are produced here on granitic foothills that give relatively lightweight but well structured wines with a lot of finess, purity and character.

2007 Muscat Reserve from Frey-Sohler in Scherwiller is a 50/50 blend of Muscat Otonell and Muscat d'Alsace. The aroma is developed with pears, fresh grapes, white peppar and peaches. The taste is medium weight (to be a Muscat, that is) but sec, and well balanced with a nice backbone of tartric acid. A solid effort. Price: € 7.00.

2001 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Kanzlerberg, Sylvie Spielmann

2010-06-07T21:46:00.000+02:00

Old Gewurztraminers do not die, they are just reborn. The young wine is often over the top with roses, red apples, banana and spices and a jammy sweetness on teh palate. But over time, the sweetness decreases in response to a polymerization reaction. At Grand Cru Kanzlerberg in Bergheim, Sylvie Spielmann shows off her great skill and creates long-lived, superb wines with superior backbone.

2001 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Kanzlerberg has a golden yellow color with green tints despite eight bottled. The aroma is lush and complex with honey, pepper, mint, apricots and millions of other scents. The taste is supple but elegant with a velvety structure and a mild sweetness balanced by fine acidity and a touch of bitterness. Price: € 16.00.

2007 Riesling Steinacker, Xavier Wymann

2010-06-02T21:34:00.003+02:00

Located in the geological fracture zone, Ribeauvillé has a great variety of subsoil geologies. These range from the granite of St Ulrich, over sandstone, limestone and marl to the alluvial soils deposited a mere 15 000 years ago. This is were we find Steinacker, a stoney (quite logically), warm vineyard which yields ripe, open and early maturing Rieslings.

2007 Riesling Steinacker from Xavier Wymann has an aroma of oranges, almonds, banana, licorice and anise. The taste is almost medium full, round, pleasant and honest with a fresh acidity on the finish. A good, no-nonsense drink. Price: € 6.80

2005 Riesling Grand Cru Kirchberg, Jean Sipp

2010-05-30T21:56:00.006+02:00

A good wine offers pleasure during their entire course of development. While it is true that storage makes the vast majority of wines better, all the basic qualities must be in place from the very beginning. Jean Sipp makes wines that are supple and inviting even as a young, without razor-sharp acidity or austere elements. Nevertheless, the wines of this hospitable domain develop great complexity and dignity with time, very typical and true to the terroirs of Ribeauvillé.

2005 Riesling Grand Cru Kirchberg has a generous aroma of bitter orange, mango, star anise, artists' turpentine, pepper, caramel and wet gravel. The taste is smooth, fruity and elegant with lingering acidity acid, notes of refreshing grapefruit and a long, clean aftertaste. Bottled joy!
Price: € 18

2006 Riesling Grand Cru Schlossberg, Domaine Stirn

2010-05-24T23:31:00.001+02:00

The renowned Grand Cru Schlossberg, the largest Grand Cru of Alsace, is a sought-after terroir for excellent Riesling and for Gewurztraminer. Above Schlossberg, we have Bois de Kientzheim, a dense forest which forms a terrific habitat for game such as deer and wild boar (fr. sanglier). Many non-survivors among these end up in the kitchen of St Alexis, a charming hunting lodge restaurant above Kayserberg that offers rustic and generous food.

2006 Riesling Grand Cru Schlossberg from Domaine Stirn in Sigolsheim offers the honeyed, buttery concentration of the vintage in addition to figs, almonds, lemons and yellow apples on the nose. The taste is round and supple with a superb freshness, sufficient backbone, great purity and the minerality of the terroir on the finish. More exotic than the 2006 Grand Cru Brand. Price: €10.90.

2008 Muscat, Maurice Schoech

2010-05-21T21:24:00.005+02:00

Almost all dry Muscat from Alsace is consumed very young. In its' childhood, the character of crushed grapes in the aroma is more than obvious, while the taste is light as a feather. Paradoxically, some cellaring makes the fruity aroma somewhat harder, reminiscent of a Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire, while the taste becomes broader and fuller. It is a wonderfully refreshing drink a warm spring evening, with or without the asparagus.

2008 Muscat from the low-key but skillful Maurice Schoech in Ammerschwihr brings red grapefruit, gooseberry and ripe pears on the nose. The flavor is rich with distinguished fruitiness in the middle and long, pronounced but ripe acids in a rather light, bone dry and firm body. Very well done! Price: € 6.00.

2007 Riesling Langgass, Emile Herzog

2010-05-15T23:35:00.000+02:00

In 2009, I was exploring the producers of Turckheim. Among them, they are quite few, I stumbled across Mme Herzog, widow of the late Emile Herzog who worked for INAO for several decades. Today, Mme Herzog farms a mere 1.4 ha of prime vineyards, some of which are located in the garden of her suburban villa! Literally, this is a "garage vinery" and the 5000-7000 are bottled and labeled by hand. The vineyards are worked with horses and Mme Herzog has state-of-the-art knowledge about every phase of the winemaking process.

2007 Riesling Langgass has ginger, apples and orange blossoms on the nose. The taste is so clean, so fresh and so homogeneous. A marvelous wine made by a remarkable woman! Price: € 7.60.

2006 Riesling Grand Cru Brand Vielles Vignes, Domaine Stirn

2010-05-15T23:20:00.000+02:00

Fabien Stirn has all it takes to become one of the big names in Alsace: determination, knowledge, skills and a portfolio of grand terroirs. Working land in a handful of villages from Turckheim to Ribeauvillé and the Grands Crus Brand, Schlossberg, Mambourg (not in production yet) and Marckrain, he turns out focused wines with true terroir character. In 2006, he used the advantage of working permeable grantite soils to wait until the skies cleared mid-october to produce wonderful Rieslings with the remarkable richness and no trace of grey rot

2006 Riesling Grand Cru Brand Vielles Vignes offers oranges, honey, coffee and roasted almonds on the nose. The taste is medium bodied, clearly off-dry with superb acidity, some lemon peels and a square, hard and rare minerality. Bravo! Price: € 10.90.

2007 Pinot Gris Herrenweg, Zind-Humbrecht

2010-05-15T23:17:00.000+02:00

Olivier Humbrecht is without doubt one of the world's most skilful winemakers, and for me, his ability to combine the natural, fruity character of aromatically perfect grape material with a high complexity is unique. To some extent, this is about balancing the reductive and oxidative processes from "débourbage" until the wine is poured into the wine glass, an art Olivier masters to perfection.

2007 Pinot Gris Herrenweg has a yellow straw color, a great scent with a lot of honey, clementines, toffee, raisins, nectarines, nuts and a touch of mushroom. The taste is powerful, almost hard, with a distinct sweetness (20 g/liter) that is overwhelmed by splendid acids and a sensation of minerality in the finish. Price: € 28.

2007 Riesling Muhlforst, Mader

2010-05-15T23:15:00.000+02:00

The vintage 2007 was characterized by a very long autumn in which the grapes were able to develop a broad and complete aromatic palette without running the risk of being affected by harmful mold. There is no green tones, and the complexities can sometimes give an atypical - but wonderful - experience.

2007 Riesling from Muhlforst in Hunawihr has an amazingly deep yellow in color. The scent carries apple peel, saffron, chocolate, raisins and a sweet fragrance - Fruit & Almonds! The flavor is concentrated without being heavy, the structure is beautifully sandy without being bitter and the mature acids are long and firm. A surprisingly big wine to come from classically oriented Mader. Price: € 8.0.

2004 Gewurztraminer Bollenberg, Camille Braun

2010-05-15T22:12:00.000+02:00

Gewurztraminer may - if the vineyard is optimal - mature with great dignity. Then the perfumed scent fades, and the high natural sugars melt down to become volume and body. Bollenberg in Orschwihr has a perfect micro-climate which allows the grapes to reach aromatic maturity before the sugar content becomes to high and the acidity too low.

2004 Gewurztraminer Bollenberg has an amazingly youthful, greenish color. The scent is a purebred, typical palette of ripe yellow apples, a little banana, hyacinth and ginger. The spicy taste is perceived to be dry with some salty licorice and silky but firm acids. A superbly balanced wine with only 7 grams of residual sugar and 4.5 g total acidity. Price: € 6.

2006 Pinot Gris, Guy Wach

2010-05-15T22:10:00.001+02:00

If you are looking for a village tucked away from the tourists, with good restaurants and wines of unmatched diversity and outstanding quality, the Andlau is the place to go. Located in a small valley, tucked in between the three Grands Crus Moenchberg, Wiebelsberg and the great Kastelberg it is a one-stop place for all the temptations that the vineyards of Alsace can offer. The "musketeers" Kreydenweiss, Gresser and Wach are all top-notch producers in a dry, yet generous style

2006 Pinot Gris is offers figs, apricots and hazelnuts on the nose. The taste is medium-bodied and only slightly sweet, with a square, focused acidity that is impressive for this difficult vintage. Price: € 8

2004 Riesling Grand Cru Sporen, Scheidecker-Zimmerlin

2010-05-15T22:09:00.001+02:00

A hefty rib with chili-infused ratatouille demands a wine with power and substance. Then we are looking for an odd, personal terroir in a hot amphitheater in the heart of Alsace. Sporen is a sun-drenched terroir with a marly soil poor in limestone which gives tremendous volume and moderate acidity, a distinctive vineyard that yields a wine with pronounced schizophrenic character - is it Riesling, Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer?

2004 Riesling Grand Cru Sporen, has developed a deep, exotic scent with dried apricots and roses. The taste is contradictory with minerality, great body and integrated sugar. A splendid wine revisited. Price: € 8.

2005 Riesling Grand Cru Goldert, Ginglinger-Fix

2010-05-15T22:07:00.001+02:00

The most exciting feature of a wine is its ability to evolve over time. While maintaining its basic character, the aging wine gives new interpretations of all its properties, expressed in other ways and in different proportions in the young wine relative to the patinated wine.

2005 Riesling Grand Cru Goldert has, over a few years, gained more volume in the fragrance and more precision of flavor. Today, the scent is aromatic and flowery and intense with pineapple, figs and oranges. The agile flavor is complemented by the distinctive sandy minerality and delicate, but elegant and long acidity. A racy wine that borrows features from both Muscat and Gewurztraminer Price: € 9.80.

2007 Pinot Blanc, Christian & Véronique Hebinger

2010-05-15T22:06:00.000+02:00

There are days when you do not want to think too much about finding the right wine for dinner. Those days you should bring out a bottle of Pinot Blanc, preferably with a sizeable dose of Auxerrois, which gives roundness and body. If this Pinot Blanc is from Eguisheim, you can be sure that the wine is tight, rich and well-made. In addition, if the name on the label is Hebinger, you should expect a wine of quality!

2007 Pinot Blanc has a nice aroma of lemon, yellow apple and a touch of cabbage. The taste is medium bodied, complex and completely dry with minerality and wonderfully refreshing acidity, which is firm without being green. A bit like a really good Grüner Veltliner, if the comparison is allowed. Price: € 5.50.

2005 Gewurztraminer Silberberg, Bechtold

2010-05-15T22:05:00.000+02:00

Jean-Marie Bechtold is a strong personality with a strong and genuine commitment to the environment. In and around Dahlheim in northern Alsace he makes biodynamic wines in a very personal style. His hallmark is a special softness that brings out the subtle aspects of his grape material from the half dozen vineyards he carefully manages.

2005 Riesling Silberberg has a full and developed aroma with a spicy character of a genuine Indian curry, a hint of smoky rubber and ripe red apples. The taste is supple and caressing with nicely integrated sweetness within a well-balanced, almost medium-bodied taste.
Price: € 8.50.

2008 Pinot Blanc, Bruno Sorg

2010-05-15T22:03:00.000+02:00

It takes a lot of skill and dedication to make firm Pinot Blanc based on 80% Auxerrois. However, year after year, François Sorg puts his act together, spoiling his loyal clients with this charming wine that is perfect for the table.

2008 Pinot Blanc is fresh and fruity with white peach, licorice, oranges and sun-ripe tomatoes from the garden on the nose. The taste is medium bodied and dry with a great mid-palate, zesty acidity and a very pure aftertaste with just a hint of bitterness which adds structure. This is by far the best edition of a wine with the highest ratio quality/price around. 2008 is a magic vintage! Price: €5.

2007 Riesling Rothstein, Clément Lissner

2010-05-15T22:02:00.001+02:00

Although many producers are proud of their Grands Crus, their hears often belong to their beloved lieux-dits. This seems true for Hagel (Louis Sipp, Ribeauvillé), Muhlforst (Mader, Hunawhir), Gebreit (Rieffel, Mittelbergheim), Ostenberg (Loew, Westhoffen) and Rothstein (Lissner, Wolxheim). It is among these wines, you'll find the real gems in Alsace, unique wines with great personality.

2007 Riesling Rothstein has a developed and generous aroma of yellow apples, white raisins and figs paired with a smoky and flinty note. The taste is dry but full-bodied, with supple fruit paired with firm acidity and a wonderful minerality. Top! Price: €6.

2003 Pinot Noir Barrique, Koeberlé-Kreyer

2010-05-15T22:01:00.001+02:00

No blue grape is so much favored by cellaring as Pinot Noir. It requires several years, but then the angular acids will give way and release the spiciness, generosity, and the smooth richness.

2003 Pinot Noir Barrique has a clear, ruby red pinot colour with a slightly orange edge. In the developed scent there are spicies, lingonberry jam (a creation more Swedish than meatballs) , buttered carrots and a hint of vanilla. The taste is medium-bodied with sweet fruit, quite dry with refreshing acidity and velvety tannins. A wine that makes one happy! € 9.35.

2008 Riesling Grand Cru Kaefferkopf, Maurice Schoech

2010-05-15T21:59:00.000+02:00

Kaefferkopf is one of the most heterogeneous Alsace Grands Crus. Here there are clay soils on top of granite, and gravel from the granite on calcareous marl. Yet Kaefferkopf always a special freshness, a lemon-like and powerful personality as well as vibrant overtones. The tradition used to be that Kaefferkopf was sold in the form of Gewurztraminer with a small amount of Riesling, but since the terroir became Grand Cru in 2006 the pure Riesling wine has become more common.

>2008 Riesling Grand Cru Kaefferkopf, Maurice Schoech2008 Riesling Grand Cru Kaefferkopf has a young, tight, but rich aroma of pineapple, lemon and white flowers. The taste is strong, fruity, with clean and firm acids that promise a long life. Powerful! € 12.

2001 Gewurztraminer Réserve, Leon Beyer

2010-05-15T21:58:00.001+02:00

It is said that the wines from a particular producer is a reflection of his physiognomy. This is completely wrong. In contrast, the wines may reveal certain personality traits, such as a desire to experiment, perfectionism, traditionalism, and even anarchistic traits. The family firm Leon Beyer in Eguisheim makes classic wines that reflect the attitude of the family. They are extremely professional, orthodox and purposeful, while the wines are welcoming and generous in flavor, aroma and quality, but completely in the absence of populism

2001 Gewurztraminer Réserve has a mature and complex fragrance of roses with Indian spices and preserved fruits. The taste is perfectly balanced with a hint of sweetness that complements superbly refreshing acidity. Price: € 14.

2004 Riesling Grand Cru Wineck-Schlossberg, Clément Klur

2010-05-15T21:56:00.000+02:00

In recent years, Grand Cru Wineck-Schlossberg in the small village Katzenthal has earned better and better reputation thanks to ambitious producers such as Clément Klur, Meyer-Fonné, Jean-Marc Bernard and Paul Blanck. On Wineck Riesling dominates overall, and because the terroir does not favour botrytis, the wines are crystalline, fresh and classic.

2004 Riesling Grand Cru Schlossberg-Wineck has an elegant, relatively open nose, with hints of herbs (oregano), candied lemons and green apples. The taste is smooth even though it is tight and balanced, with high acidity and a long fine aftertaste. Excellent with oysters! Price: €12.

2006 Pinot Blanc, Pfister

2010-05-15T21:54:00.000+02:00

It is becoming increasingly common to use oak barrels for élevage of Pinot Blanc. This wine from Pfister in Dahlenheim is a clear suspect; the aroma is developed and nutty with great complexity. To get the oak treatment confirmed I checked with Mélanie Pfister who replied:

2006 Pinot Blanc has been produced in stainless steel tanks, as all the other wines on the domain. The wine has spent time on its yeast deposit, which contributes to the rich palate. Pinot Blanc is flowery as young, but with time they develop nuttiness (which may bring to mind oak barrels) as well as an element of minerality." A very good wine that could have been mistaken for a Meursault, had it not been for the minerality in the aftertaste. Price: €8.

2005 Riesling Grand Cru Pfingstberg, Camille Braun

2010-05-15T21:52:00.000+02:00

The only comfort that December brings is the ending of November, the opportunity to light candles and to uncork a bottle of summer. Camille Braun, located in Orschwihr, has received much and well-deserved attention from La Revue du Vin de France. This charming domaine offers a lot of class at very reasonable prices, regardless if you are a big importer or a private, visiting customer.

2005 Riesling Grand Cru Pfingstberg offers camphor, ripe yellow apples and kirsch on the nose. The taste is rich and full, yet the aftertaste has very good structure, great acidity and a sandy minerality. A winner!
Price: € 10.

2008 Muscat, Laurent Barth

2010-05-15T21:51:00.000+02:00

A single day on Ipanema Beach is enough to make one crave for Alsace Muscat. Not even Swedish November with chilly winds, gloomy darkness and unsurpassed humidity, can drive away the desire for this lovable and sun-drenched wine.

2008 Muscat is actually from the Grand Cru Schlossberg above Kientzheim despite its simple denomination and is - like all other wines from this Bennwihr-born personality - a miracle of purity and character. The aroma brings a cocktail of orange, apple and banana. The taste is amazingly rich and powerful, with tough acids, focused fruit and a long minty aftertaste. Just as a Caipirinha - only better. Price: € 9

2007 Sylvaner Cuvée "Z", Eric Rominger

2010-05-15T21:49:00.000+02:00

Tradition is great in Alsace, much stronger than the commercialism, opportunism and short-sightedness. Therefore, many producers cultivate "lesser" grapes in the best locations. Grand Cru Zinnkoepflé is ideal for the Sylvaner, and is highly valued in the twin villages Westhalten and Soultzmatt, which together with Mittelbergheim and some villages in northern Alsace (Westhoffen and Bergbieten) give great Sylvaner, by any standards.

2007 Sylvaner Cuvée "Z" has a dense but quite restrained aroma of peach, pineapple and wet wool. The taste is fruity, quite dry, medium-bodied with a typical bitterness in the long aftertaste. Price: € 11.

2007 Riesling Cuvée Speciale, Christian & Véronique Hebinger

2010-05-15T21:47:00.000+02:00

As an amateur obsessed with wine, it is only too easy to focus solely on wines from the finest terroirs and the most written-about producers. But above all it is a grief that so many extremely well-made, personal and useful wines are overlooked by those who - rightly - visit Alsace. Perhaps it is within the gap between the basic cuvées and the Grands Crus that you may find the bargains that brings the most joy for money.

2007 Riesling Cuvée Spéciale is still very, very young and has an aroma which offers yellow apples, bananas, walnuts and chocolate. The taste is very tight, remarkably fresh with a restrained fruit that lingers in the well-structured aftertaste. Pure pleasure! Price: € 5.80.

2007 Riesling Tradition, Barmès Buecher

2010-05-15T21:40:00.000+02:00

Overlooking Quarter Latin of Paris, we find Panthéon, a grand monument with a clear view of Tour Eiffel. One block down the street, on Rue St. Jacques there is a wonderful little Parisian wine shop, Caves du Panthéon, which has a tantalising selection of wines from France's small quality growers. Here you can buy the...

2007 Riesling Tradition, a strictly biodynamic wine by Geneviève and François Barmès. The scent contains candied lemon, almond from Valencia and a warm, buttery tone of toffee. The taste is dry and amazingly complete, with a dense fruitiness of apples, pears, ripe yellow prunes and grapefruit. The acidity is ripe and fresh, accompanied by a model minerality that gives a sense of absolute purity in the finish. A wine at a high level despite the modest classification. Price: € 11.

2007 Riesling Grand Cru Wineck-Schlossberg, Jean-Marc & Frédéric Bernhard

2010-05-15T21:38:00.000+02:00

The scientific research on wine has revealed the chemical compounds which give certain aromatic characteristics of white wines. For instance, the characteristic smell of "petroleum" is caused by 1,1,6-trimethyl-1,2-dihydronaphthalen, a derivative of carotene also known as TDN. The scent of citrus and ginger, however, come largely from 3,7-dimethyl-2-octen-1-ol, a typical commercially available component that is widely used in perfumes. But still, it will take long until one can identify what lies behind the character of "minerality", you know where the hard, salty, fresh and dry lingering feeling in the mouth when drinking fine Riesling.

2007 Riesling Grand Cru Schlossberg-Wineck has a generous aroma of warm apples, cloves and sweet flowers. The taste is fruity, supple, rich and already complex with a minerality that remains half hour in the aftertaste. Wonderful and almost for free. Price: € 10.

2004 Riesling Silberberg, Willy Rolli-Edel

2010-05-15T21:37:00.000+02:00

Take a careful look at the label - soon it will be history! Prehistory is that the domaine Rolly in 1947 was divided between two sons. After another generation, there were the "cousins" Rolli-Edel and Rolly-Gassmann. But due to lack of succession, Rolli-Edel is about to sublimate, the residual stock is sold out and the vineyards united again with those of Rolly-Gassmann. Silberberg, is one of many brilliant Rorschwihr Lieux-dits. Others are Kappelweg, Kugelberg, Muenchberg, Pflaenzerreben, and Stegreben (often far more personal than Grand Cru Gloeckelberg in the neighbouring village Rodern).

2004 Riesling Silberberg has a classic fragrance characterised by a fresh lemons and crushed rock - the hallmark of Silberberg - supplemented by butter-fried apples and honey. The taste is quite dry, almost "spritzig" with elegant citrus notes and a slightly bitter finish. Indeed far from the style of Rolly-Gassmann but very good! Price: € 6.50

2007 Sylvaner, Domaine Weinbach (Faller)

2010-05-15T21:34:00.000+02:00

At the foot of Grand Cru Schlossberg, surrounded by Clos des Capucins, matriarch Colette Faller along with daughters Laurence (wine-maker) and Catherine make world-class wines. Year after year Domain Weinbach rises above what other producers do the same terroirs, which proves the greatness of the domaine. The wines exhibit amazing depth and density, outstanding body and balance, and are sublime one the nose and on the palate. In addition, since a few years the tendency of Domaine Weinbach is to aim for more restrained residual sugar levels.

2007 Sylvaner has a broad aroma of crushed grapes, rye-bread, spices and citrus. The taste is compact, with strikingly rich fruitiness in a medium rich body. Firm acids gives both spine and freshness, enhanced by a trace of characteristic bitterness. Perfect partner to butter-fried scallops. Price: € 12.

2007 Pinot Noir, Bruno Sorg

2010-05-15T21:33:00.001+02:00

While the world is flooded with highly extracted, red wines rich in alcohol with unclear storage potential, Alsace offers elegant, smooth Pinot Noir for every occasion. The Pinot Noir vineyard area is increasing rapidly, and the quality is elevated at all levels.

2007 Pinot Noir is very bright red. The open scent contains all the hallmarks of Pinot Noir; blueberry, strawberry, carrots in butter, bitter orange and a hint of rubber. The taste offers sweet fruit and elegant acidity, low-key but ripe tannins and sufficient tannins, in a medium-body. Aftertaste has fresh summer strawberries and excellent balance. Price: € 7.

2007 Riesling Thalberg, Roland Schmitt

2010-05-15T21:32:00.000+02:00

Few producers offer so few products as the Schmitt family in Bergbieten. The list includes a mere 4 wines despite an annual output of 45 000 bottles from 10 hectares. It has long produced classic Riesling from Lieu-dit Glinzberg and from Grand Cru Altenberg de Bergbieten, Vielles Vignes and Cuvée Roland. But in 2007, an Riesling Thalberg was launched, and we now await the first wines from a newly purchased parcel on Grand Cru Engelberg in Dahlenheim.

2007 Riesling Thalberg has, after 18 months of development in the bottle, a complex aroma of lime, white flowers, nuts and passion fruit. The flavour harmonises perfectly with the aroma and is bone dry without being harsh, and it is rich without being the least heavy. A model wine from a sympathetic producer who always who never disappoints. Price: € 8.40.

2003 Pinot Gris Grand Cru Engelberg, Bechtold

2010-05-15T21:30:00.000+02:00

The Grand Cru Engelberg finds itself on the summit of Mont Scharrach, located in the region called Couronne d'Or, the vineyard area west of Strasbourg. Engelberg rests on calcareous soil, which provides potent wine with excellent character and structure, regardless of variety. Here, Jean-Marie Bechtold crafts delicious wines in a truly personal style in which he achieves a brilliant combination of restrained, velvety softness, dryness and elegance.

2003 Pinot Gris Grand Cru Engelberg has an aroma of coffee, dark berries, liquorice, fennel and a slightly hot, exciting tone of Grand Marnier. The taste is velvety, juicy, medium full-bodied and quite dry with amazingly vivid fruit acidity in the aftertaste. A remarkably fresh 2003. Price: €10.50.

2007 Riesling, Domaine de l'Oriel Gérard Weinzorn

2010-05-15T21:29:00.000+02:00

Claude Weinzorn has a passionate relationship to the wines of and the excellent terroirs located on the granite surrounding Niedermorschwihr. His yields is kept low, and the style is classically elegant in a focused and restrained style. ALL wines are delightful in their purity, and both grape character and the vineyard characteristics are fully expressed.

2007 Riesling is based on grapes from young (<30 years [sic!]) vines on the Grand Cru Sommerberg. The aroma is distinctly fruity with yellow apple, melon, clementine and flint. The palate has a fresh attack, it has a slightly less than medium body which is packed with fruit salad, while the finish has intense, almost saline, mineral tones. A terroir wine of high class. Price: € 7.50.

2008 Auxerrois, Clément Lissner

2010-05-15T21:28:00.000+02:00

Auxerrois is most unknown grape, mainly because it usually mixed and sold in Pinot Blanc blends, more rarely pure in their own name. The variety stems from Gouais Blanc, a Croatian grape that have been crossed with varieties from the Pinot family to give rise to, among others, Chardonnay, Aligoté (the Kir base of Burgundy), Melon (Muscadet), Gamay (Beaujolais), and the almost extinct Alsatian variety Knipperlé.

2008 Auxerrois has a welcoming, complex aromas of melon, toasted pumpkin seeds and ripe pineapple. The taste is excellently well-balanced, with a fresh and lovely acidity that gives support to the beautiful peachy fruit. The aftertaste has a backbone of tartric acid, which provides structure and freshness, which is unusual for a Auxerrois. A superb wine, whatever yardstick, from one of Alsace's most interesting producers. Price: € 4.50.

2004 Pinot Noir Cuvée Théophile, Mader

2010-05-15T21:27:00.000+02:00

Pinot Noir is the grape of Alsace, whose cultivated area is increasing most rapidly. A warmer climate, improved viticulture and progress in the cellar - many factors interact to allow production of full red wines from Alsace. Hence, today one finds many good examples of fruity but elegant, spicy Pinot Noir which must be taken seriously.

2004 Pinot Noir Cuvée Théophile from Hunawihr has a brilliant, bronze shimmering cherry color. The aroma is developed with strawberry/blueberry jam, embedded in lovely oak. The taste is medium bodied, offers velvety fruit with fine acidity and ripe tannins. The silky finish has some length and makes a perfect match with slices of butt of lamb off the grill, marinated in sherry and fresh herbs. A quality wine which many tasters would have placed in St Emilion. Price: € 11.

2007 Pinot Blanc "B", Albert Boxler

2010-05-15T21:25:00.000+02:00

Jean Boxler in Niedermorschwihr makes Alsace's most captivating Pinot Blanc. The grapes originate from the Grand Cru Brand in neighboring Turckheim. Brand is always floral, fresh wine with a tight focus. Firmness is also a characteristic of Pinot Blanc. As well of the outstandingly talented Jean Boxler.

2007 Pinot Blanc "B" is an aromatic wine with fresh herbs, white flowers and coconut in the formidable scent. The taste is as compact as the fist of a heavyweight boxer, with layers of ripe, peachladen fruit and a brutal but mature acidity, which leads to a refreshing minerality on the finish. A great wine with huge qualities. Price: € 11.

2002 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Pfersigberg, Charles Baur

2010-05-15T21:24:00.000+02:00

Eguisheim has two excellent Grands Crus, Eichberg and in Pfersigberg, but it is the latter that provide the most focused wines. A Pfersigberg is never heavy or overblown, and should show discrete minerality and offers a fragrance of the red earth. Riesling and Gewurztraminer grapes are reference varieties, but Muscat fits at least as good, while Pinot Gris has not yet fully convinced on Pfersigberg.

2002 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Pfersigberg has a mature, complex but above all fresh scent with cinnamon, ginger, citrus, honeysuckle and raspberries. The palate is focused and elegant with a trace of vanilla and banana, minerality and zesty acids. The finish is dry due to a pinch of the typical bitterness. A model wine that gives credit to both Pfersigberg and the local style of Eguisheim. Price: € 14.

2005 Riesling Bruderbach Clos de Frères, Etienne Loew

2010-05-15T21:21:00.001+02:00

Westhoffen is a village gifted with many types of soils and bedrock.
Side by side with classic muschelkalk, one finds white, read and green marl on the ridges that surround the village, forming a protective amphitheater with a stable climate without extremes.

2005 Riesling Bruderbach Clos de Frères grows on calcareous sand with marbles of muschelkalk and dolomite, CaMg(CO₃)₂. The aroma is developed with dates, honey, citrus and a toasted aroma reminding of coffee. This toasted character is also in the flavor which is long, medium-full, elegant and fruity. The acidity develops on the palate and finishes high and crispy, a fingerprint of an Alsace terroir rich in alkaline substances. Price: € 8,20

2004 Muscat Grand Cru Brand Cuvée Aurélie, Armand Hurst

2010-05-15T21:19:00.001+02:00

Grand Cru Brand rises as a steep amphitheater above Turckheim. This hot pot rests on relatively easily weathered granite bedrock with very good drainage. Therefore Brand excels during cool years with a long autumn. Riesling wine from Brand are floral and has an elegance that brings to mind Muscat, while Muscat instead have profound depth and can withstand long storage.

2004 Muscat Grand Cru Brand Cuvée Aurélie has a developed, creamy aroma with mint, roasted almonds and honey, which brings to mind sweet half sibling such as Moscatel de Setúbal and Muscat Beaumes-de-Venice. The taste is totally dry but juicy with superb minerality in the aftertaste. A wine loaded with power but only a little alcohol - to a ridiculous price! Price: € 9.50.

2007 Pinot Blanc, Roland Schmitt

2010-05-15T21:18:00.001+02:00

Riesling, of course, is the grape that most clearly of all reflects its terroir. But for the truly talented vinmakarna, particularly those working biodynamic, and some vineyards all wines exhibit the intrinsic features of the terroirs, regardless of variety. Grand Cru Altenberg de Bergbieten and surrounding vineyards always make a clear and unique imprint, even on the Sylvaner and Muscat. The calcareous marl and the relatively cool climate wines with the flesh, freshness, finesse and vitality.

2007 Pinot Blanc is a fruity fragrance with a touch of fennel and citrus. The taste is medium full-bodied, firm but juicy with a typical and obvious taste of yellow, ripe grapefruit. A wine with class. Price: € 5.50.

2005 Muscat Les 3 Demoiselles, Pfister

2010-05-15T21:16:00.001+02:00

Muscat is grown on less then 3% of the viticultural area, and this dry wine does not get the attention it deserves. While the grower struggle with inconsistent flowerings and yields, the average visitor to the area skips Muscat when visiting the producers. However, those of us that acknowledges that Alsace Muscat is a serious, unique, versatile, seductive, and interesting wine with loads of quality and personality, we just can't get enough of it.

2005 Muscat Les 3 Demoiselles has multi dimensional aroma where crushed grapes, kirsch, Cointreau, toffee and nuts. The taste has great definition, firmness, structure and firm acidity, while a moderate (12.5%) of alcohol is perfectly embedded. A serious wine made by a rising star. Price: €10.

2002 Pinot Gris Grand Cru Hengst, Josmeyer

2010-05-15T21:14:00.000+02:00

This world-class wines is the result of the amalgamation of the most exuberant grape variety, the most self-minded terroir and one of the most skillful wine producers in Alsace. Hengst in Wintzenheim is a terroir on cold, oligocene marl which gives acidity and focus, and the extremely sunny and dry microclimate allows the grapes to mature gracefully under the clear October skies.

2002 Pinot Gris Grand Cru Hengst has a complex aroma of ginger, exotic spices, honey, apricots and wild flowers. The taste is full and ripe with a superior structure, zesty acidity and sweet dry fruits that create an aftertaste that lasts forever. Marvelous! Price: €25.

2005 Muscat Bollenberg, Camille Braun

2010-05-15T21:12:00.000+02:00

Bollenberg is located on a ridge, connecting Westhalten and Orschwihr. This lieu-dit gives rich wines with obvious varietal character, charm and class and the growers match the many micro-climates with each grape. Nevertheless, the prices of the Bollenberg are so low that one becomes embarrassed.

2005 Muscat Bollenberg is a pure Muscat Ottonnel. The aroma is not only peach lade, but does also offer honey, licorice and the delightful fruitiness that is a hall-mark of Muscat. The taste is compact and medium bodied, with splendid acidity and the hint of bitterness that goes so well with asparagus. A real treat! Price: € 6.00.

2007 Pinot Gris, Roland Schmitt

2010-05-15T21:11:00.001+02:00

Alsace wines can either be fully dry or carry various levels of residual sugar. The "detection limit" for sugar is ca 4 gram/liter, but if the level of acidity is high (as in many Riesling wines) 10 gram/liter may pass unnoticed. However, regardless of sugar level, all wines from Alsace should be fresh, lively and balanced, never flat, heavy or dull.

2007 Pinot Gris from Roland Schmitt in Bergbieten has an aroma, typical for the grape; orange marmalade, smoke and apricots. The taste is medium bodied with notes of rhubarb pie and pineapple, superior freshness, minerality and an almost dry finish. A lovely wine for the table that will gain complexity over several years. Price: € 7.00.

1999 Riesling Grand Cru Kirchberg, Louis Sipp

2010-05-15T21:08:00.000+02:00

The vintage 1999 is just as underrated as 2000 is overrated, at least for those of us that love firm, classic, pure, long-lived and velvety Riesling that make the heart beat. Etienne Sipp in Ribeauvillé makes nothing but excellent wines, with a fabulous ability to chisel out the most important feature of a great wine: balance.

1999 Riesling Grand Cru Kirchberg has a fully developed aroma of arrack, chalk, wild strawberries, turpentine, ripe apples and candied lemons. The taste is medium-bodied, fruity and clean, and the wine coats the mouth with sweetness without sugar and tartness without any bitterness. The finish is long, full of the Ribeauvillé minerality and really, really good. Price: € 14.50.

2002 Riesling Muhlforst, Mader

2010-05-15T21:07:00.000+02:00

Muhlforst is a lieu-dit in Hunawihr, covering over 80 ha next to Ribeauvillé. The vineyards face south-east, and the terroir is dominated by marl, rich in lime. Muhlforst is one of the most reliable lieux-dits in Alsace, playing in the same league as Bildstoecklé, Bihl, Bollenberg, Rotenberg and Herrenweg.

has a complex nose of grapefruit, with a trace of honey and lemon. The taste is bone dry, with layers of pure fruit, some apples, superb minerality and coarse aftertaste that one also finds in the neighbouring Schoenenbourg. A wine that, just like all others from Mader, is a model for classic Alsace wines for the table as well as for the cellar. Price: € 8.

2006 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Mandelberg, Scheidecker-Zimmerlin

2010-05-15T21:06:00.000+02:00

Vintage 2006 is heaven or hell, with rot or concentration. Grand Cru Mandelberg in Mittelwihr is also heaven or hell, either square or sublime. Gewurztraminer is certainly heaven or hell, with generous charm or boring stickiness.

2006 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Mandelberg is only heaven. The aroma shows breed with smoke, coriander, roses and the hint of banana that characterizes Gewurztraminer that benefit from cellaring. The taste is quite full, with freshness, complexity, depth and a long, lingering aftertaste that is a perfect match for a real, homemade curry. A great personality! Price: € 10.

2005 Muscat Grand Cru Wineck-Schlossberg, Vincent Spannagel

2010-05-15T21:00:00.000+02:00

Katzenthal has 21 wine producers, all small and several quality conscious. Here, the prices are low, the doors are open and the hospitality unsurpassed. Vincent Spannagel is the only producer that offers a Muscat from the cool granite of Wineck-Schlossberg, made from wines of Muscat Ottonel and Muscat d'Alsace planted as lateliqourish as in the year 2000.

2005 Muscat Grand Cru Wineck-Schlossberg has a big, striking aroma of crushed grapes, mint, apples and liquerish. The taste is mouthfilling with plenty with a lot of substance, clean and fresh acidity, and a touch of bitterness (from Muscat d'Alsace) that adds character to the wine. A wine that proves that for Muscat, 1+1=3. Price: € 10.

2007 Riesling Stein, André Rohrer

2010-05-15T20:59:00.000+02:00

Even though the trend had begun to swing towards less sugary wines, puritans may turn with confidence to André Rohrer in Mittelbergheim. Here the wines will qualify for any GI diet, yet they all have rich and mature fruit and clearly show the signs of the terroir. Lieu-dit Stein is situated in the very south, below the village on limestone (acidity), protected from the cooling winds (maturity).

2007 Riesling Stein offers oranges and lime, toast, pesto and time on the nose. The taste is bone dry, almost medium bodied with a peppery acidity that backed up by velvety fruit. The aftertaste is absolutely pure and very, very elegant. A stylish produce from a merry vintner! Price: € 7.

1999 Riesling Grand Cru Altenberg de Bergheim, Charles Koehly

2010-05-15T20:57:00.000+02:00

On the New Year of 2009, Charles Koehly left this world, far to early. Since the early 1970's, this bold and dedicated entrepreneur developed a successful domain, representing the dynamic tradition of Alsace family estates. The house style is classic, crisp and charming.

1999 Altenberg de Bergheim has a big, generous aroma of lilic, petrol, honey, nutmeg and the inimitable scent of orange tree flowers. The taste is light, elegant and clean with a greenish, apply component that gives the wine freshness and personality. A wine that is truly French, the best mark a wine can get. Price: €11.50.

2007Gewurztraminer Gesetz, Domaine Lucas & André Rieffel

2010-05-15T20:55:00.000+02:00

Lucas Rieffel is a young vigneron who is very well known and respected, all over Alsace. Since a decade, he makes well balanced, elegant wines with profound environmental concern, and the various terroirs in the communes of Andlau, Barr and Mittelbergheim.

2007 Gewurztraminer Gesetz offers an aroma of spices and banana, indicating the the wine will develop complexity after a few years of cellaring. The taste includes apricot and pineapple, and is mellow and slightly sweet without being sticky. The sugar will be integrated in a few years, and leave room for a focused variatal character. Superb craftsmanship and a promising future. Price: €8.

2002 Riesling Hinterberg, Audrey & Christian Binner

2010-05-15T20:48:00.002+02:00

Biodynamic viticulture, naturally controlled yield and vinification based on care in every step is not just a trend, it is becoming normal for quality conscious producers. The young couple Binner in Ammerschwihr belongs, with Pierre Frick and Bruno Schueller also to a small group that avoids adding sulphur at all.

2002 Riesling Hinterberg, grown in Katzenthal offers a giant aroma of white flowers, almonds, honey and candied lemons. The taste is precise with a palette of citrus flavors, saltiness and a minerality that is dressed in superb acidity. I wonderfully chiseled wine the elegance of which resembles that of the neighboring Florimont. Price: €12.