2010 Pinot Blanc Auxerrois, Albert Mann

When La Revue du Vin de France was to select French Winemaker of the Year 2011 the choice fell upon in Wettolsheim. Why? Was it because of their legendary Pinot Noirs? The classic Riesling Grands Crus from Schlossberg, Furstentum and Hengst? Or because every wine of the estate, despite its' pedigree, is on the top level in a region where the competition becomes stiffer for every year. 

2010 Pinot Blanc Auxerrois from Albert Mann turned out to be the right choice at the cool restaurant Le Coupil i Ribeauvillé, a perfect match for tapas and a tartine with mozzarella, tomato and ruccula. The aroma is a sofisticated bowl of strawberry, melon, pineapple, orange and almonds. The taste has great tension, is fresh and elegant and displays the versatility of the grape in a perfect manner. Not a great wine but really, really good.  Price: € 10.

2008 Auxerrois, Etienne Simonis

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.

2007 Pinot Blanc Auxerrois, Henry Fuchs

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 Auxerrois, Clément Lissner

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.

2005 Pinot Blanc, Gérard Schueller

Gérard Schueller is now managed by Bruno Scheuller. As other producers that work according to biodynamic principles, Bruno Schueller in Husseren-les-Chateaux makes wines that possess a lot of character and variability.

2005 Pinot Blanc, a 100% Auxerrois, shows an exciting aroma of nuts, honey and molasses, reminding of a sweet Chenin Blanc from Loire. The taste is nutty, fresh, full and bone dry. A superb gastronomic wine. Ex cellar price: €6.