27th May 2008

As hundreds of  visitors congregated for the first day of Vinexpo Asia 2008, Mr Thierry Fritsch of the CIVA gave an excellent presentation on the region with some useful facts and figures.

We then tasted through the following wines, a really representative, well-chosen range:

2005 Pinot Blanc Reserve, Moltès

Appearance: pleasant gold green colour.

Nose: apple and pear fruit first nose, slight almond or other nutty note.

Palate: fruity palate with slight residual sugar (but basically dry); surprisingly good acidity with quite a bit of ‘freshness’ for Pinot Blanc and slight fat, glycerol feel.

Conclusion: well-made. This wine is actually half Pinot Blanc and half Auxerrois – Thierry Fritsch explaining that Auxerrois does give the richer, fatter mouth-feel we found here. Drink now.

Rating: 16.5/20

2005 Riesling ‘Cuvée Henri Albrecht’, Lucien Albrecht

Appearance: medium to deepish green gold.

Nose: young green apple Riesling fruit with some mineral and slate notes, but a bit closed at present. Very young on the nose still.

Palate: characteristic high acidity, lovely apple fruit, essentially dry and with good length.

Conclusion: representative Alsatian Riesling from a producer that also makes good Crémant, apparently. Drink 2010-2015.

Rating: 17/20

2004 Riesling Grand Cru Vorbourg, René Mure

Appearance: deep gold with slight green tints.

Nose: mellowed Riesling fruit (sour apple) dominated by mineral and slightly cheesy notes indicating development. But there’s also some candied lemon peel here introducing a citrus element. Complex.

Palate: extremely well-integrated and refreshing high acidity with lovely green apple fruit and even some honeyed fruit flavours. Tiny bit of residual sugar here, thereby essentially dry. Excellent length.

Conclusion: René Mure is a justifiably well-known and respected producer whose wines we’ve tried before. This fantastic Riesling can be approached now, but will also age superbly well. Drink 2008-2014, perhaps longer.

Rating: 18.5/20

2006 Pinot Gris Reserve, Bestheim Co-op

Appearance: medium gold green.

Nose: spicy pear fruit (characteristic of Alsace Pinot Gris) with some honeyed aromas.

Palate: more spicy pear fruit on the palate with quite good acidity, slight residual sugar (but basically dry) and some glycerol fatness.

Conclusion: Well-made, pleasant Alsatian Pinot Gris. Drink now.

Rating: 17/20

2002 Pinot Gris Grand Cru Mambourg, Pierre Sparr

Appearance: deep gold to amber.

Nose: complex nose of honeyed and spicy pear fruit, almond and other nutty notes and even washed rind cheese.

Palate: rich palate, impressive acidity for the grape, lovely ‘fatty feel’ and well-integrated residual sugar (about 13 g/l r.s. here). Good length.

Conclusion: a beautiful example of Grand Cru Pinot Gris. Drink now or up to 2012.

Rating: 18.5/20

2005 Gewurztraminer, Michel Fonné

Appearance: medium to deepish gold.

Nose: fragrant gingerbread first nose (that pain d’epice aroma you get on some Alsatian wines, particularly Gewurztraminer) backed by classic lychee fruit with some rose petal aroma; but quite restrained, not showy.

Palate: decent Gewurztraminer fruit, impressive acidity for the grape and that touch of bitterness that only high-quality Gewurztraminer possesses. A small amount of residual sugar here (about 7 g/l). Good length.

Conclusion: stylish Gewurztraminer. Drink now or up to 2010.

Rating: 17.5/20

2004 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Frankstein, W. Gisselbrecht

Appearance: fairly deep gold.

Nose: complex nose of lychee, rose, gingerbread and even some mineral aromas.

Palate: rich mouth-feel with Gewurztraminer’s trademark fatness offset by decent acidity and some well-integrated residual sugar (about 10 g/l). Impressive length.

Conclusion: high-quality Grand Cru Gewurztraminer. Drink now to 2010.

Rating: 18/20

2005 Pinot Gris Grand Cru Sonnenglanz (Vendange Tardive), Bott Geyl

Appearance: deep gold.

Nose: intensely spicy pear and ‘grapey’ fruit with some gingerbread and botrytis aromas. Complex.

Palate: hefty residual sugar (up to 105 g/l), although this is not exorbitant for a late harvest wine, balanced by excellent medium-high acidity. Lovely fruit on the palate with very good length.

Conclusion: clearly, very high quality indeed (as one would expect of Bott Geyl). Superb late harvest Pinot Gris. Drink now to 2012, perhaps longer.

Rating: 18.5/20

Posted on Tuesday, May 27th, 2008 at 4:26 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.