alsace

mixed sweets

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I’ve posted about fortifieds recently, so its time for some sweet wines! All tasted “blind” except the Fighting Gully Road.

2002 baumard

2002 Domaine des baumard Clos de sainte Catherine 13%
Coteaux du layon, Loire Valley (chenin blanc)

Citrus peel and oranges, apple and pear, Light bodied but fleshy, honey and tropical fruits on the palate, and some residual sugar (40g/l?). Although chenin blanc has naturally high acid, this one looks a little underfruited.

Drink now, 90 points

2003 Marcel Deiss Schoenenbourg 11.5%
Alsace (grand cru), France. The label is traditional/retro, but under time pressure, I forgot the photo.

Musk and sultana, honey and kerosene, youthful but soft.

Identifying the origin as Alsace was straightforward – but varietal composition was a challenge, My guess was Riesling, but its a  field blend; with apparently 50-60 g/l, residual sugar, close to my assumed 45g/l). Deiss makes a number of field blends, and I’ ve had a mix of wonderful and awful from this producer. 2003 was the Euro heatwave, when some clever folk in Alsace picked ahead the official notice (if they had pickers and staff)..

Bravo! Drink soon, 92 points

2012 Jones botrytis Muscat 9.2%
Rutherglen, Victoria
Roses, floral herbs, vaguely like a vermouth! No problem, interesting little wine.

Drink now, 90 points

2017 fighting gully road

2017 Fighting Gully Rd Petit Manseng moelleux 12%
Beechworth, Victoria
Bright gold colour; mango, bruised apple, just ripe pineapple, and pear drops. This is sweet (60g/l?) , but acidity propels the wine along. Almond flavours and mixed tropical fruits. I liked this wine a lot, but the mix of scents and flavours won’t please all. Yet I kept nudging the score upwards with each taste. I recently revelled in their 2021 Sangiovese –  a label to search out.

92 points, drink to 2025

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Recent misses (and hits)

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1968 Moulin Touchais (Coteaux du Layon) Loire Valley
Chenin blanc. A bit of dried apple, but this oxidised bottle provided no pleasure.
1979 Moulin Touchais (Coteaux du Layon) Loire Valley
Similar, but worse. Pretty dead.

These “fails” could not be scored. But Cellartracker shows there are better bottles around.

2004 fonseca
2004 Fonseca Guimaraens Vintage Port
Portugal. Ruby colour with some bricking; dark red fruits and plum, dried fruitcake and spices, almond meal, clean spirit, savoury, grippy, chalky. Maybe a tad light, but very smashable at the end of a long night! Not a generally declared year, and in this year Fonseca also produced a Panascal. The single quinta wines can be excellent value.

Drink to 2030, 92 points

2005 Zind-humbrecht Turkheim Riesling 13%
Alsace. Advanced mandarine colour; apricot and tropicals run riot. Palate is off-dry, waxy, with lime marmalade, and  22 g/l residual sugar. Great fun, but drink up. Alsace is so inconsistent, but when they get it right. Zind-humbrecht sometimes seem alcohol-heavy; this hit the spot.

Drink now, 90 points

2000 Chambers botrytis tokay
Rutherglen, Victoria. Its colour was almost mahogany, but it was still kicking sweetly with orange, toffee, quince,  and dried fruits. It was very grapey, spicy, and varietally not Riesling nor Sauterne-like. I was pondering Frontignac, or something unusual.

Botrytis tokay (muscadelle) is uncommon, but not unique. Chambers in Rutherglen released thi style from 1996, 2000 and 2011. Pfeiffer has also made the style.

Drink now, and 90 points-  as a wine that was difficult to define, but worth the effort.

1977 taylors VP
1977 Taylor Fladgate Vintage Port
Portugal. Memories came flooding back after this wine was unmasked; it was the first Portuguese VP I ever tasted, and I instantly purchased one bottle despite my meagre salary. That bottle was opened in mid-2005 – “rose-petal & raisin & Turkish delight, high alcohol, huge power- another 20 years”.

Sixteen years later…. ruby with some brick, not the deepest, but with a mix of red, blue, black, purple fruits; fresh, fleshy, ultra-supple, clean spirit, almond notes, spices and rich dark chocolate. Its owner informed that a three-hour decant did the trick. This wine looks indestructible, and its complexity was a delight.

Drink to 2040, and 95 points

A freak Alsace and a Rieslingfreak

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2001 Zind Humbrecht Clos Jebsal Pinot Gris SGN 12%

2001 zh pg sgn 2021

From Alsace (France), a rare botrytised Selection de Grains Nobles (SGN) purchased at auction in late 2014 For $115. Previously reviewed on 29 June 2016, back then I gave it 97 points.

The cork was in excellent condition; the bright amber/copper colour of the wine caused some looks at the table, but all was forgiven – and more- when people smelled, and then tasted.

Baked apple, stonefruit – ripe peach and rich dark honey with some candied peel and dried fruits; palate (168 g/l) is lush yellow peach, pear, orange marmalade and spice notes. Outstanding. The sweetness level is high, but immaculately folded into balance. Gloriously enduring and hauntingly fresh tasting – irresistible. Magic again.

97 points, drink to 2028, but why wait? – this is a wine worth seeking too!

2017 Rieslingfreak #8 (Schatzkammer) 7%

2017 rieslingfreak #8

Medium-sweet at 50g/l, this is from the Polish Hill River sub-region of the Clare Valley.

2017 was a highly successful vintage for the area – and is well represented in my cellar. Winemaker John Hughes makes only Riesling- a numbered array showcasing various areas, styles, sweetness levels, including a fortified and a sparkling. Rieslingfreak (reverence of riesling)is a fantastic brand name!

Lemon zest with a dash of lime; apples dusted with icing sugar and lemon sherbet, with a dash of sweet spices; the palate follows through representing those aromas, and some light honey; pebbly acidity means the wine is lip-smackingly joyful and balances the level of sweetness. An excellent example of the style (roughly a Kabinett-weight)

I’m inclined to drink it in the next few years while it thrums with vibrancy.

Drink to 2025, 90 points

2001 Stirn Gewurztraminer Selection de grains nobles (SGN) 12.5%

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Apologies everyone, WordPress has altered its editing tool to be extremely counterintuitive, with complex intructions about “blocks”. For the time being, my posts may look strange and clunkier than usual.

2001 stirn gwt sgn

From, Alsace France – which displays the exoticism of the Gewürztraminer grape to great advantage, whether dry, off-dry, or in this instance – very sweet. The term for heavily botrytised grapes in Alsace is Selection de grains nobles, usefully abbreviated to SGN.

From a 500ml, bottle, the cork was in superb condition. The wine is bright deep amber in colour with some copper highlights. Purchased at the winery in 2009 (€29.5), and accidentally cellared until now, it’s a welcome surprise that the wine has not merely survived but thrived.

It has floral grapey rose-petal and musk scents, tropical fruits, dark honey, ripe pear and honeysuckle- with a dash of sweet ginger spice mix. The palate is bright, rich and full of energy; rose-petals again, honey and viscosity, orange citrus tang– and of course it’s very sweet! Varietal identity is still recognisable – it’s aromatic, spicy and absolutely delicious.

Drink to 2025 (but why wait?), and 93 points

Drinks from different European areas

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2008 Schloss Lieser Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese 7%
Mosel again, from winemaker Thomas Haag, with a short but serviceable cork. This wine was purchased from Eurocentric quite a while ago, and is in a great drinking phase.

2008 schloss lieser bjs spatlese

Bright gold in colour, it shows lime, icing sugar, and brown spice notes. The palate reveals more apple and mixed white and yellow stonefruit, with some green herb, plus the spices. It is sweeter than many in the spatlese category, but is poised for delight, being all too easy to drink and reach for more – the sign of a decent wine. Its racy, ready for enjoyment and shows no sign of fading.

To 2025, 92 points

2011 Georg Breuer Riesling Auslese 8.5%
From the Rheingau (Germany); another German area where most action is happening with the dry Rieslings – the Georg Breuer Berg Schlossberg is exceptional. But they have a range of sweeter styles too. Pale gold colour; fresh with dominant tropical fruits, particularly just-under-ripe pineapple. The wine still tastes fresh, honest and straightforward – enjoyable without providing dramatic highlights.

Drink soon, 87 points

1997 Trimbach Gewurtztraminer Vendanges Tardives 13%
Alsace (France). Buried in the cellar, and really should have been tackled earlier.

Pristine cork, and a bright deep gold colour. Vendanges Tardives (VT) is late-picked and my guess was around 40 g/l in this example. Tantalizing and unmistakable floral varietal scents – musk, apple, raisin and spices. Age and likely oxidation is showing with some furniture veneer and caramel aspects. Low acidity is a hallmark of the variety, and time has chipped away at this wine’s appeal. There is still rich mouthfeel, but it’s flatter than desirable, making drinking too much effort when othere wines are in reach.

Its peak drinking has gone by, so drink up – you may get a better bottle!

Catch-up with some European sweet wines

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2007 willi, grun

2007 Willi Schaefer Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett AP#9 8%
One of my favourite Mosel producers. 57g/l residual sugar. A bright pale gold, red apple, touch of barely ripe pineapple. Crunchy, fresh, melons and lime, with a rich fresh mouthfeel, Comforting, comfortable, refreshing.

To 2030, 91 points.

2007 Maximin Grunhaus herrenberg Riesling spatlese 8%
Mosel. Deeper gold, Aromatically less pure than the previous wine; candle-wax, red grapefruit, spiced pears. The palate displays more dried and glace fruits; acidity does not seem as vibrant and a bit of hardness is evident. No trouble drinking this wine over several days, but early consumption is suggested.

The label is “old-school”.

To 2025 and 89 points

2006 Ch Coutet 14%
Barsac, 75% Semillon, 23% sav blanc 2% muscadelle; 149 g/l rs. A good but not brilliant vintage for Sauternes, but the wine (half bottle) has held well. There is abundant information on their website.

Light toffee colour, showing pristine vanilla, icing sugar, stewed apricot, and orange peel. The palate is very ripe and sweet, with some marmalade characters and almond (oak). Racy acid makes helps; there is tension between the exotic fruit sweetness, acidity and mouthfilling texture.

From a half-bottle, this wine was a wonderful result for the vintage and seems on a long plateau. Drink to 2025 (conservative, but the wine presents so well now), and 93 points

2010 Mader Pinot Gris Schlossberg Grand cru (sweet)
Hunawihr,  Alsace. Light gold colour, Sultana, pears, dried apple, dried apricot. The grapey palate retains just enough acidity to keep interest.

Drying out, with possibly some oxidation. There is still drinking enjoyment, but it’s on the decline

Drink now, and 87 points

More recent splashes

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2014-5 doisyblanck heggies1983 vps

All served blind – it may seem premature to serve young Barsacs, but these proved wholly delicious, with enormous capacity to live and improve for many years. Cellaring estimates are conservative, but no-one is immortal.

2014 Ch Doisy-daene 13.5%
Barsac, 100% semillon 144g/l rs; The website is very detailed, and I tasted this wine a few months ago with similar notes.  Enormously aromatic; tropical fruits, pineapple rind, touch of vanilla essence, green nettle, botrytis. Exciting, fine creaminess, honeyed with lovely racy acidity, some cashew oak,  spotless.

Drink to 2030, 93 points

2015 Ch Doisy-daene 13.5%
Barsac, 100% Semillon, 136 g/l rs. A slightly greener fruit profile than the wine above, ripe pear and more stonefruit white peach (and botrytis); this wine already seems more rewarding, with impressive fine honeyed texture, greater- but still balanced-ginger-spice oak, and richer depth and mouthfeel, with supporting acidity.

Drink to 2035, 94 points (and more to come)

2005 Paul Blanck Furstentum vendanges tardives Gewurtztraminer 12.5%
Alsace, screwcap! Half-bottle, purchased at the winery, from a special site. Light gold in colour, it displays musk, roses and oiliness. The palate is moderately sweet, but its persistent, varietal with a winningly appealing citrus twang

Drink to 2025, 92 points

2007 Heggies “242” botrytis riesling 8.1%
A half-bottle located after my records showed I had none left (previously reviewed on this site). Amber/light copper coloured. The 242 refers to the amount of retained sugar, which comfortably sits at the BA level, and from a site in the Eden Valley, South Australia – where mostly dry Rieslings are produced, but often a small amount of botrytised Riesling. It’s packed with orange essence and marmalade, very decadent; on the viscous palate there are apricot and stonefruits. It’s still fresh, ultra-sweet -but still balanced-  some hardness is emerging, so drink sooner, not later.

Drink to 2022, 92 points

1983 Stanton and Killeen Vintage Port 19%
Rutherglen, and a hot dry year. A solid bricky colour, but browning only on the rim. Ripe and sweet with some raisined fruit, iron and liquorice, sweet, chalky, lively but a little warm. But it’s 35 years old, and 100% shiraz. On the evidence of this bottle, no further improvement is likely, but it’s still a satisfying and rewarding wine

Drink now, 88 points

1983 Dow’s Vintage Port 20%
Portugal of course. Paler colour than the wine above, showing a more interesting fruit expression of blue and red fruits, and milk chocolate covered almonds. The palate is fine and detailed – and medium-bodied, but also suggests the acidity will hold while the fruit recedes. At this stage, the tannin is balanced, but every bottle will be different.

Drink to 2025, 92 points

2007 Dirler(-Cadé) Gewurztraminer Grand cru Spiegel Selection de grains Nobles 12%

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From Alsace, with its cork in excellent condition. This wine is from an exceptional year for late-harvest Gewurztraminer in Alsace. Gewurztraminer is unfairly maligned as being a “beginner’s variety” with its overtly aromatic musk, rose and lychee characters (often allied with inappropriate levels of residual sugar) make it instantly recognisable and appealing, with typically minimal ability to improve with bottle age.

In Australia, this stereotype is unfortunately largely true, with some exceptions (Delatite, Lillydale Estate, and occasional surprises from Pipers Brook and other Tasmanian producers come to mind- perhaps we have deployed lesser clones in inappropriate areas?). New Zealand has had more success with the variety with Lawson’s wines readily available.

Alsace sees gewürztraminer’s varietal expression at its fullest, with wines ranging from dry styles through to full-throttle heavily botrytised examples. Some gewürztraminer wines from Hugel, Trimbach, Stirn, Paul Blanck and  Zind-Humbrecht have provided special enjoyment over the years. Alsace, with its mix of German and French speaking residents, history, its all-around scenic prettiness, wines and cuisine should not be neglected in travels – and I have visited several times.

Dirler has an extensive list of wines available, and I have previously written about several different Dirler wines in my blog.

2007 dirler gwt sgn

This wine is a bright and healthy gold colour. It presents wonderfully as fragrant, musky, grapey, spiced, brisk and fresh. This is a full-on, heavily botrytised, powerful dessert-style wine (152 g/l residual sugar) and the palate shows dark honey, icing sugar, yellow peach, spices and lime flavours. There is abundant acidity to balance the substantial residual sugar, and the texture is lush and supple. This is just a fabulous example of an SGN, with a very, very trivial quibble about some minor palate hardness.

Each time I sampled this wine, its score – as a benchmark of this style – improved; it just possesses super drinkability.

Drink to 2025 (it may last much longer but I fear the hardness will become more obvious), and 95 points.

An Alsace VT, and a Portuguese Vp

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2001 Louis Sipp Kirchberg de Ribeauville  (grand Cru) Pinot Gris (vendanges tardive) 12.5%
Alsace provides disproportionate disappointments caused by cork- oxidation and TCA. The discard rate should make anyone extremely wary. When the wines behave as intended they can be magnificent (the 1990 Trimbach Clos st Hune Riesling garnered a perfect score from me once; a second bottle a few years later was almost as memorable, and I have tasted awesome bottles from Josmeyer and Zind-Humbrecht).

This Louis Sipp wine was a final gamble– a bottle tried a few months ago was oxidised to undrinkability. Pinot Gris is a low acid, “quiet”  variety (undistinguished in Australia), but if aiming at the “gris style” with sensitivity, ripeness and some residual sugar, it can be a surprisingly adept partner with fish. Obtaining texture without phenolics being too overt is the winemaking key; alcohol, residual sugar and winemaking finesses are important.

2001 louis sipp pg vt

Vendanges tardive indicates late harvest, but the residual sugar level – moderate but an easily discernible amount- is unknown. The wine is golden in colour, displaying tropical notes of pear, baked apple, mango, honey, spice, and glace fruits. The palate is drying out, but still exerts attractive grapey sultana character, mandarine, yellow peach and mixed spices to wrap it up.

Better a few years ago, but a decent, well-chilled bottle will provide considerable enjoyment

Drink now (or via time machine a few years ago), 89 points.

1980 Warre’s Vintage Port 20%
Served blind, and a translucent brick colour, this wine exhibits mocha, almond, vibrancy and is relatively dry for the style; then fig and rose-petal emerge. Uniformly identified as Portuguese by commentators at the table, Warres was the house deemed likely. Its age was assumed as a declared but “lesser” year. This wine is a further triumph for 1980, showing a winning combination of life and mellowness ,with a wholesome, lingering palate.

Drink to 2030, and 92 points.

2007 Dirler Gewurtztraminer Saering vendanges tardives 14%

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Alsace, Grand cru, and 54 g/l residual sugar. The VT description really just means late harvest. It seems I wrote about this wine about two years ago, and my notes and score are moderately consistent (but this time the camera refused to take even a passable photo).

The cork has lasted well and the wine is a bright deep gold colour,  Gewurztraminer is an aromatic variety, and there are attractive mixed scents including honey, rose-petal, orange blossom, marmalade and cooking spices (mainly cinnamon).

The palate is true and lush, with more stewed apricot, orange marmalade, and grapey ripe sultana displayed. It is rich, ripe and becoming a little hard, with its sweetness being slowly overtaken. But I doubt that many will have deliberately kept this wine for so long, and it improved for one day after opening before its charms receded. It was probably more exuberant a few years ago.

Drink up, but 90 points still.