Sunday, January 27, 2013

2011 Riesling Dirstelberg, Agathe Bursin

There are producers who manage to make wines that can be approached on an undemanding casual way, but still has a depth and complexity that so that each time you put your nose to the glass, or lip to rim, you discover something new. Agathe Bursine is such a producer. All wines from her extremely well-run small property are fresh, clean and fruity. Prices are very moderate, in fact too low according to all objective standards.

2011 Riesling Dirstelberg from Agathe Bursin in Westhalten has aromas of passion fruit fruit, lemons, ripe green apples and wet stones. The taste is medium bodied and harmonious with fresh acidity, lots of juicy fruit, a balance on the dry side and a wonderfully tight minerality that stays long in the mouth. This is how Riesling should taste! Price: €8.60.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

2008 Riesling Grand Cru Engelberg, Maurice Heckmann


Some of us do not appreciate high levels of alcohol in wines. Hence, we look for wines from
sensible producers that have terroirs on cold, calcareous soils with great exposition. One such terroir is Grand Cru Engelberg in the north, 20 km due west of Strasbourg. Here producers such as Heckmann, Pfister, Bechtold, Schmitt and Loew produce wines with a low-key and food-friendly balance, freshness and complexity.

2008 Riesling Grand Cru Engelberg by Maurice Heckmann in Dahlenheim is deep yellow. The aroma is developed and generous with lemon, mango, toast, white raisins and the pleasant notes of petrol that one often finds in this wine. The taste is medium bodied and dry with succulent fruit and a superior, zesty and mineral adicity that adds great qualities to this honest wine. Price: €9.

Monday, January 7, 2013

2005 Crémant, Bruno Sorg



Sparkling wine made ​​with the methode champenoise ferments a second time in the bottle, lying stacked sur lattes. During the period sur lattes, carbon dioxide is formed  and the complexity develops as dead yeast is degraded by means of autolysis. This sparkling wine has spent more than six years sur lattes in a magnum bottle before being degorged, which is on level with the most ambitious vintage champagnes. And it shows!

2005 Crémant from Bruno Sorg in Eguisheim has a bright yellow color with a green tint. The fragrance has everything you could want: toasted sourdough bread, slightly over-ripe apples, dark chocolate, citrus and a little brewer's yeast. The taste is fresh, clean, complex and elegant with lovely juicy fruit that stands up against the grippy acids. The finish is long, mineral and harmonious. A crémant far, far beyond the ordinary. Price: €18 for a magnum.