Alsace: Colmar and Strasbourg
Oy sometimes I wonder if I would forget my brain if it wasn’t attached to me. I always forget something in my travels and if luck is kind, then it is something small and not worth worrying about. This time not so much…Not going to say anything more as I don't want to jinx what I forgot while its coming to me via Fedex.
Trimbach: Lovely little tour by a Trimbach employee by the name of Annie. She might be a little hard to make out here in Trimbach's tasting room, but a well done tour. Unfortunately I was under a bit of time constant to get to my next appointment but Annie assured me that I had time and correctly so.
First up was a Pinot Blanc 2007. Clean with fresh lemon, a little mineral, lime zest and a touch of glycerin sweetness (didn’t seem like residual sugar, but it was 9:30am I could be wrong) and solid length. A really nice first wine and a great palate cleanser.
Next was the Riesling Reserve 2008, lime zest and pith, petrol, clean mineral notes but still a little tight. Will this get better with time? Perhaps, this wine generally does.
Riesling Cuvee Fredric Emile 2004, Ok sports fans now we are getting serious. Made from a blend of two Grand Cru vineyards Geisburg and Osterberg, this was pretty damn good. White flowers, steely and mineral, petrol, lime and lemon though a little tight, it was focused in its complexity.
In a word, wow? Intense nose. Powerful and I mean powerful mineral depth and length. Sweet lemon, almost ice pick on your tongue acidity, petrol and lime. Its like a Ferrari just off the factory line. Raring to go, but it needs time before everything is in sync. Love this style of Riesling. Definitely need to check out the 2006 to put it away as a birth year wine for my daughter. As you can see I was a bit rushed and my tasting notes reflect it.
On to Weinbach...
Pulling up I have high hopes. I’m going to get a lot of information about the different Grand Crus and cuvees of Domaine Weinbach. It’s a glorious estate, even on the cloudy day that I arrive. Surrounded by vines and a large hill where their Grand Crus sit. I’m bought into what can only be described as old sitting room. Old wood paneling, covered with pictures of the family and the late Theo, husband and father of the Faller women. 
And like most older rooms there is a smell of well, being old. Not unpleasant but slightly distracting from the tasting.
The fact sheet I’m presented with is outstanding. Exactly what I need. Details about the different cuvees, Grand Crus, vintage reports and the like.
The first wine a nice Pinot Blanc Reserve to cleanse the last Vintage Tartdive from Trimbach. Refreshing, well made though personally I like the Trimbach verison that is lower in residual sweetness. Madame Faller herself comes out to say hello, and though she is lovely, she only speaks French and German. And it is a polite but very frustrating experience for us both.
My ability in both languages would be generously described as minimal. The simplest conversation is near impossible as I can’t explain that though I am a Sommelier, my career has moved out of restaurants and into writing and the classroom. I can only fault myself.
Because Swiss German uses a little French in its everyday language, and now that I have been living in Switzerland for five months now, the two languages are like traffic accident in my head. Smashed together with little too distinguish one from the other. Here I have the ability to pick the brain of the Matriarch of the family and am foiled by the ability to communicate. In hindsight why the assistant 
wasn’t asked to rejoin us to translate is a little confusing.
She excused herself and her assistant returned with my style of Riesling, Schlossburg Grand Cru, Cuvee Catherine ’08. Though a little closed, it is pure, steely, with slate (?), mineral, sandstone, ripe lemon, petrol and lime. Within a focused lengthy finish with really good complexity. I hadn’t eaten anything this morning in my haste and this was painful pleasure, if I wasn’t hungry before… The soil really comes through this wine as I can really taste the shale which was reminiscent of slate to me and the sandstone is evident.
The next wine is the Riesling Schlossburg Grand Cru, Cuvee Catherine “L’Inedit!” ’08 which is from particular plots from the Schlossburg vineyard that the Riesling that are allowed to be picked late and effected with botrytis. In other words should be pretty exceptional.
And its wasn’t, at least on the nose. Very muted, with hints of oxidation. I ask when the bottle was opened, trying to understand why the wine wasn’t as expected.
As it turns out it was opened a week ago.
The assistance’s polite response was they can’t open a new bottle every time. Which I completely understand, there is only so much wine that can be used for tastings, but a week?
A day or three depending on the grape, region and preservation system can certainly extend the life of a wine. A week is a little more than pushing it for most still wines. Domaine Weinbach certainly knew that I was a wine professional coming to taste and they were gracious to receive me, so why present a wine opened for so long?
I am far from being a wine celebrity and nor do I expect to be treated as such but I far from some half drunk tourist. Fortunately the wine on the palate was still quite good, a richer version of its earlier harvested sister, but the hint of oxidation that was still present truly made me wonder how good the wine really was.
This pattern was completely consistent with one exception throughout the tasting.
Pinot Gris, Cuvee Laurence 2006 though it was only opened 3 days ago the nose was again muted and on the palate disjointed, with layers of honey. Difficult to assess.
Pinot Gris Altenbourg 2006 again had a muted nose with oxidation. On the lower corner I noticed that all the bottles were marked with the date, and this wine was opened thirteen days ago (!). On palate the wine had mostly survived, on the attack was intense spice notes with botryis, peppercorn (schezwan and black), which then merged with peach and bosc pear, apricot and honey. Good but exceptional? Hard to say.
Up next was a couple of Gewürztraminers. Cuvee Laurence 2008 and here was the exception of a new bottle. And because of that I have an aromatic note. Almost roasted schezwan peppercorn, a mushroom/forest floor with light lychee and roses. Truly Weinbach, via terroir or style really emphases the spice components in the varieties that support it. On the palate it was intense flavors with some residual sugar, botrytis, melon, apple with a spice core. Well done.
Gewurtztraminer Furstentum Grand Cru, 2007 was opened eleven days ago. Not surprisingly again, a muted nose with oxidation and hints of spice. Tasting it I was very surprised how well it has stood up the extended time being open. Rich and round, residual sugar, botrytis, really intense spice, with classic lychee and roses. Really long finish, amazing wine.
Last was a Pinot Gris from Altenbourg, Vendage Tardives 2003 which was opened 14 days ago. Seriously. Oxidative nose. Flat, with layers and layers of honey. Too far gone to give a note.
A Master of Wine once told me how long a wine can remain open wine while maintaining its integrity was one of his ways of seeing the level of quality and perhaps how long it would live in the bottle. That a number of Domaine Weinbach’s wines had somewhat survived with being open as much as fourteen days is a tribute to the level of quality of wine that is being made there. Now they just need to work on their tasting room and a invest in some spoilage management. I certainly will continue to use Domaine Weinbach as a benchmark for how good wine from Alsace will be and what is classic for the region. It’s such a disappointment to see their wine being presented in such a manner.
