Mint, bergamot, celery seed, brown spices and rose petal on the nose of the Barmes-Buecher 2007 Gewurztraminer Herrenweg take on additional force on a juicy and kinetic palate, with tactile impingement of brown spices and heady inner-mouth perfume. The freshness persists on this wine’s long finish even with its overt sweetness. For reasons I didn’t quite get, most of the 2007 crop of Hengst went into this Herrenweg bottling, which might well to some way toward explaining its quality. I’m not sure in what circumstances other than solo I would serve this excellent value in unabashedly sweet Gewurztraminer, but one could probably also cellar it for at least 6-8 years. There is as usual a lot of fascinating wine in Francois Barmes’ constantly shifting, hugely diverse as well as just plain huge 2007 collection, though the level of success was on the whole consistent. As in the past, though, I remained relatively unconvinced by Barmes’ way with Pinot Gris, despite its being a grape that elsewhere revealed special potential in 2007. I can’t say 2006 here represents an advertisement for Barmes’ conscientious and long-standing biodynamic practices, but then, in a year of rampant rot, surely the absence of anti-botrytis sprays has to have been sorely felt at many biodynamic estates. There were a couple of 2006s here too fungal to recommend, with the majority of what was a reduced line-up meriting mild recommendation provided they are drunk-up soon.Importer: Sussex Wine Merchants, Moorestown, NJ; tel. (856) 608 9644; also, a Thomas Calder Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011-33-1-46-45-15-29