2008 Pinot Noir Barrique, Clément Lissner

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

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

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

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

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

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

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