Alsace is in northern France on the German border - it once was German and many names are German. Atypically of old-world wines, they are labeled by the varietal - Pinot Gris (sometimes labeled Tokay although the use of that name has been officially banned), Pinot Blanc, Riesling, Gewurztraminer (German Gewurtz is as rare as hen’s teeth), Muscat and even Pinot Noir.
Generally, the wines are dry or off-dry, except for those bottlings labeled Vintage Tardive (Late Harvest), but above all they are minerally, flinty, quite acidic, should have simply stunning, rich fruit characteristic of each varietal, and they are almost never oaky. Except for inexpensive, branded wines, they are single-varietal and the better ones come from a single vineyard.
The wine-speak word, “fruit”, needs some clarification.
The input that we get from the taste buds in our mouths are limited to sweet on the very tip of the tongue (but a very crude measure of sweetness); acid (which in wine is usually malic, citric or lactic) in the middle of the mouth; bitter on the side of the mouth, and salt. Those impressions that we get from our sense of smell are what we call fruit and they encompass not only the black and tropical fruit flavors in wine but also literally thousands of smells such as leather, tobacco, cedar, earthy, barnyard, and those that distinguish bad wine of all kinds, including those that are “corked” - the musty basement smell that comes from an improperly disinfected cork.
The next time you have a mouthful of wine try determining which of the tastes you are experiencing are coming from your nose. I think that you will conclude that all of them are in your mouth; such is the ability of the brain to deceive us. My somewhat crude and un-scientific explanation is that your brain says “it's in your mouth and that is where all those flavors are coming from”. Mouth on the other hand does not know anything about fruit flavors - the closest it can come is what it perceives on the tip of the tongue - sweetness, especially those black fruit flavors.
Why am I telling you all this? A few weeks ago one of the wines offered at my WiseUp-on-Wine Saturday tasting was Domaine Michel Fonne ’05 Pinot Gris from a single vineyard named Bennwihr. It sells for $15.99. I love Alsatian wines and this one is something special - great bouquet and an unctuous mouth feel, rich, full and glorious fruit. It has both body and flavor. What amazed me was that of perhaps 100 tasters only one agreed with me that the wine was not only not sweet, but sensational. He bought a case - everyone else dismissed it as disgustingly sweet. Out of curiosity, I took a bottle home and we demolished it with sauteed scallops. The most satisfying white wine I have had in a long time!
Domaine Michel Fonne ’05 Pinot Blanc, also from the Bennwihr vineyard, sells for $12.99. What this bottle, and many other Alsatians does for Pinot Blanc is pure magic, an experience not to be missed. I think of Pinot Blanc as a “shy” grape, demanding patience if you are to appreciate it, because its joy evolves in the very back of your palate, requiring patience, and for that reason it is often overlooked.
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Albert Boxler’s ’03 Tokay Pinot Gris Reserve is exceptional - worth every penny of its $25 cost. Other suggestions - Pierre Sparr ‘05 Riesling, $13.99 and Cuvée Emile Willm ’04 Gewurtraminer Reserve, $19.99.
Muscat is perhaps my favorite Alsatian varietal, but there is none to be had in the Connecticut, market at this time. However back in September, I tasted Laurent Barth ‘06 Muscat d’ Alsace. It will be available in February. Ask for it.
Finally, from north-east Italy’s Fruili region, Cantarutti ‘05 Pinot Grigio, $21.99, stands head and shoulders above the vast majority of its compatriots.
Rick Lewis
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