2005 Pinot Blanc, Charles Noll

An ordinary wine from an ordinary producer. Nevertheless, this wine has not only managed to survive nine years of cellaring, but even evolved to become really good. The wines of Alsace never falls apart like house of cards when they get a few years old. They get their long lives thanks to fine terroirs, gentle winemaking and that the producers are not so greedy and arrogant as in some other districts.

2005 Pinot Blanc from Charles Noll in Mittelwihr is deeply greenish golden in color. The scent is powerful with honey, wax, vanilla and fresh apricots. The taste is medium bodied with good structure, clear and ripe fruit and a pretty intense acid that gives a good spine. Quite a long, dry aftertaste where the fruit is surprisingly youthful. Price (2014): € 5.

2010 Pinot Blanc, Albert Boxler

Blanc and Auxerrois are grown on just over 20% of the area. In the statistics they are pooled, but in nature they are different. Pinot Blanc is light and tight, while auxerrois is much fuller and softer. As more and more Pinot Blanc is used for Crémant it will be increasingly difficult to find still white wines made from 100% of real Pinot Blanc.

2010 Pinot Blanc from Albert Boxler Niedermorschwihr has a dense, yellow-green color. The aroma reminds of creamy milk chocolate, almonds, ripe yellow apple, mineral and nectarine. The taste is compact, tight and stringent with lots of lovely fruit, a sandy mouthfeel and absolutely perfect balance, despite the soaring acids. Boxler makes incredibly good wines! Price: € 10.

2007 Pinot Blanc Cuvée Précieuse, Pierre Frick

Jean-Pierre Frick was one of the first in France with that, already in the 1980s,  applied biodynamic methods and to reject all forms of sugar addition (chaptalisation), even in its sparkling crémant. Today he is a pioneer in making wine without the addition of sulfur, even before bottling. But most importantly – his wines are fabulous! Rich, fresh and personal.

2007 Pinot Blanc Cuvée Précieuse from Pierre Frick in Pfaffenheim has a golden color. The aroma is massive, with hints of figs,  nuts and butter that bear witness of maturity, but also an exotic element of Mediterranean spices. The taste has a large volume with a velvety soft mouthfeel, racy acids and some minerality to balance the residual sugar (6 grams per liter). A wine that can handle even the richest dishes! Price: € 8.80.

2008 Pinot Blanc Saint-André, Rémy Gresser

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 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

2007 Pinot Blanc, Christian & Véronique Hebinger

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.

2008 Pinot Blanc, Bruno Sorg

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.

2006 Pinot Blanc, Pfister

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.

2007 Pinot Blanc "B", Albert Boxler

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.

2007 Pinot Blanc, Roland Schmitt

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.

2004 Pinot Blanc Réserve Bergheim, Sylvie Spielmann

From Bergheim and north, Auxerrois is the main component in wines sold as Pinot Blanc.
Sylvie Spielmann has the ability to craft vibrant, complex Auxerrois without any of teh heavyness sometimes associated with this early maturing grape. Although Sylvie uses an old chain-driven press, her grape material is first class and her ideals classic in every sense.

2004 Pinot Blanc Réserve Bergheim has a fruity aroma with pear and banan as well as white flowers and mint. The taste is medium-bodied, supple and juicy which feels complete on the palate, offers a wonderfully balanced acidity and a noughty touch of grapefruit bitterness in the finish. Price: &euro: 9.50.

2005 Pinot Blanc Gebreit , Lucas & André Rieffel

Gebreit is a vineyard situated on a plateau between two of the Grands Crus of Andlau; Kastelberg and Wiebelsberg. Here, the must gets richness and acidity enough to carry up to a year on oak.

2005 Pinot Blanc Gebreit by Rieffel in Mittelbergheim has an intense aroma with vanilla and black licorice. The taste is fruity and supple with a hint of pineapple on top of a rich, creamy structure with fresh acids and some bitterness in the finish. A biodynamic wine in the style of a Chardonnay. Price: € 7.

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.