Notes

I make no effort to rank every single wine precisely in its place in the universe. This was one of the most exceptional tastings I ever went to. Some of the wines might be less than enthusiastically reviewed here. That's only because they were compared to some of the most stunning wines Alsace has produced. There was nothing I wouldn't be happy to own. Here are some highs--there weren't really any lows--from this event. Keep in mind....it's all relative.
The little wines of ZH are often wonderful notwithstanding their lack of status. The Pinot d'Alsace, for example, is usually a bargain, and is this year again, showing dry with a nice nose but a bit disjointed now.

Dry Rieslings

I was less impressed with the Rieslings from Gueberschwihr and Turckheim, the former seeming too tart with modest fruit (for ZH, that is). One of the less successful wines here. I liked the Turckheim more, and after some austerity on opening, it revealed modest, enjoyable fruit, still a bit tart, a candidate for development on cellaring. Look for these wines to improve, but they aren't the stars.

With the Herrenweg Turckheim, we had a major step up in class. Showing slightly sweet, crop down 35% from last year, still a little steely, but finally providing some weight and fruit. Immediately, we stepped up a notch again, when we went to the Clos Hauserer, which seemed to double the Turckheim in intensity, more unctuous, relatively accessible, also showing slightly sweet. This was the first super wine we had. When Clos Hauserer, which might be the star of many other estates' offerings was blown away in short order I knew this was going to be some event. It held its own, barely, with the Clos Windsbuhl. A tad minerally, but more structured, harder on first taste, dryer, needs lots of time. A touch of sharp acidity. The Clos Hauserer was actually more fun to drink this night but I think the Windsbuhl will surpass it while aging. Then, the big guns. The two grand crus, Brand and Rangen Clos St. Urbain. The Brand seemed bigger and more concentrated than the Windsbuhl, with just a hint of sweetness that may just have been a lot of fruit. The sweetness blew off in short order. The fruit was sharply delineated in this wine. The Rangen was seemingly rather tannic, dryer, intense and hard. Underneath, there were massive quantities of fruit. This wine needs lots and lots of time. Favorites? Hard to choose. Everything from the Herrenweg Turckheim up was lovely to brilliant. The Clos Hauserer might be the bargain of the group, a good buy. It's hard to pick against Rangen for sheer brilliance.

The Muscat d'Alsace rivals the Clos Hauserer Riesling and the Herrenweg Turckheim Riesling for, arguably, the best buy of the tasting. It was almost a shame to drink this, as its nose was so big, so fragrant. On the palate, pineapples on the finish, hints of sweetness. Lovely and early maturing. I hated to let it go. The Muscat Goldert opened hard and totally shut down. As it warmed up, it blossomed. A stunningly fragrant nose, some weight and intensity that the lesser Muscat lacked. A fine wine, and relatively cheap ($35 list price) considering its status as a grand cru. The three dry pinot gris were the Vielle Vigne offering, the Rangen Clos St. Urbain and the Herrenweg Turckheim. The HT was soft and sweet--I call these dry wines because they're not officially labelled as VTs or SGNS, but some show a little sweet---from very young, four year old vines. It tasted ready to go more or less right now. Its big brother, the vielle vigne, was velvety, rich and explosive in the mouth, with a bit of tang and crisp acidity. I liked this a lot. If I bought everything in this tasting that I liked a lot, I would need a home equity loan. It got worse. The Rangen was sweet, but, more importantly, unbelievable. Thick, concentrated, intense, a superstar of the tasting. This was probably one of my two favorites (the other being the Clos Windsbuhl Gewurz). And it almost doesn't exist in the United States as the regular bottling was forced to make do with a small crop. Sob.

We had three: The Wintzenheim, the Turckheim and the Clos Windsbuhl. All very different. The Wintzenheim to me was the least successful of the group. It seemed too sweet and candied, not clearly "gewurz." The Turckheim, on the other hand, screamed "I am Gewurz." And it was delicious, with a great bouquet. A beauty and a good buy. The Clos Windsbuhl was one of my favorites in the tasting, though. Absolutely magnificent. A superstar, showing sweet, concentrated, unctuous, rich and spicy. It seemed twice as big as the first Vendange Tardive we drank. It rivals if not surpasses the 1989. 100 whole cases in the USA. Doncha wish that just once you'd read a review like that and the conclusion was "5,000,000 cases available at $97 a case" ?

Look for these to run around $70 to $90, list price. That may mean less in stores, maybe not. There's less price differential this year between the VTs and the grand crus. Which makes sense, since ZH often has their grand crus legally able to be defined as VTs anyway. First, the four pinot gris, Rangen, Heimbourg, Rotenberg and Windsbuhl.. Of these, I had a strong preference for the Windsbuhl, seeming very sweet, a bit smokey, more concentrated and weightier. The Windsbuhl is one of my superstar picks. It stood out in a great field. A tremendous wine. The Heimbourg seemed a little too sugary on the finish, albeit I suspect this will come into balance with age and cellaring; there was clearly a supporting structure. The Rotenberg lacked a defining characteristic. Very sweet without the sugary finish of the Heimbourg. A wine that I'd like to see in a couple of years and re-review. In this group, I tasted the Rangen right after the Windsbuhl, and frankly can't muster as much enthusiasm now. Perhaps it was the competition.

The Gewurz VTs: In order of tasting, these were the Goldert, Hengst and Heimbourg. The Goldert was medium bodied, elegant, the lightest of the three. It had exceptional balance, though. I usually like them heavier but this was so finely wrought that it seemed appropriate this way. Very nice. I think I might buy this one, but I definitely buy the Hengst, which was, um, pretty good. The Hengst needs lots of time in the cellar, seemed dry for the VTs even though it had lots of residual sugar, and much weightier than the Goldert. A great wine, plain and simple. Not particularly austere, but still hiding massive amounts of fruit. Finally, the Heimbourg, 18.5% alcohol (Olivier says he is not afraid of alcohol in gewurzs in particular; that they need it to age), but I found this the least impressive of the group. I think on the whole, judging from this tasting, Heimbourg is not ZH's strongest vineyard; but Clos Windsbuhl is perhaps their least known best vineyard. Needless to say, there's also Rangen, Hengst...well, you know.
One VT Riesling: the Rangen Clos St Urbain.. I wasn't all that impressed. I drank this right after the Gewurz Clos Windsbuhl (regular bottling) and I kept going back to that, one of my favorites. Timing is everything. Not that it was bad wine--I'm just demarcating the A+ wines from the A- ones. I thought the regular bottling of Rangen was more successful.

These wines have gotten incredibly expensive. In 1994, a year with small crops, they're listed at $250 to $450 or so a bottle for a 750ml. That's list. Maybe they'll be less. They were wonderful, but no matter how wonderful, I can't afford them. Few can. I can have Yquem for half the price, and I'd rather, frankly. (To be sure, these types of wines in particular gain weight, and intensity with age; tasting them so young is almost unfair.) The only one I was tempted by was the Rangen Pinot Gris. But not at $450 a bottle or anything close. SO this is for intellectual interest....The Gewurz Rangen was the least successful in my view. Nothing made it stand out. The four Tokays as a group were more interesting, the Heimbourg, Rotenberg, Jebsal and Rangen.The Jebsal was the "purest," intensely sweet, but not the best defined. The Heimbourg had some attractive caramel flavors, intensity, and syrupy smokiness. The Rotenberg I found especially attractive for its darker, stronger caramel finish, but it was not as intense as the Heimbourg over all. Hmmm. A hard choice. They each have something very interesting and attractive. Probably, at $375 a bottle, I can't have them all. (g) But of the group, the clear winner was the Rangen Pinot Gris SGN. The color was darker, the wine was the most unctuous of the group and seemed to go to a new intensity level. I will also say that this wine seemed further along than the others. The darker color is usually a sign of aging for these TBA-like wines, and as they age they get more syrupy and intense. I can't imagine what would produce such a huge difference in such young wines though.

It was interesting comparing these wines against each other---against lesser competition they may have stood out even more. As a group, they didn't make as big an impression on me as the rest did, although I'm wistful over the Rangen Pinot Gris, and I loved that smokey Pinot Gris Rotenberg. Maybe it was the sticker shock. (g)

Chardonnay

Oh, yes. Olivier made a little Chardonnay from Clos Windsbuhl just for fun. Not for sale necessarily. It was OK, but I hope he sticks to more traditional varietals. (g)
CONCLUSIONS Too many awesome wines, too little money and too little product. Sigh. But here, for what it's worth:

• Favorite Dry wines: Pinot Gris Rangen, Gewurz Clos Windsbuhl. Hon. mentions: Riesling Brand, Riesling Rangen, Pinot Gris Vielle Vigne, Muscat Goldert. (Yeah, seems like everything. BUT I listed just two first!)
• Favorite sweeter wines: Pinot Gris Clos Windsbuhl VT, Gewurz Hengst VT, Pinot Gris Rangen SGN. Honorable mentions: Pinot Gris Rotenberg SGN and Heimbourg SGN and Clos Jebsal SGN.
• Best buys: The Muscat Goldert, Gewurz Turckheim, Riesling Clos Hauserer, Muscat d'Alsace, all ranging from about $24 to $36 (for the Goldert, the only one over $30) list price.

Oddly enough, I was more excited about the regular bottlings. The Pinot Gris Rangen SGN, for example, was awesome, as was the Pinot Gris WIndsbuhl VT, but I had more fun with the regular bottlings. Maybe it is because I can afford them. (g)

Great wines from a great winery, and let me add, a very gracious host as well in Robert Parker, and a genial winemaker in Olivier Humbrecht.

(c) 1996, Mark Squires