Leather, smoke, and sour cherry scent the Dirler 2008 Pinot Noir, uniting for bittersweet refreshment on a palate that combines textural polish with a wonderful sense of clarity. Fruit pit bitterness, chalkiness, and saliva-inducing salinity add to the appeal of an exuberant finish, while a faintly carbonized but not caramelized note adds further piquancy. And if this wine’s levity and sheer infectious drinkability leave you shaking your head, consider its level of alcohol: 12.3%! This illustrates a very distinctive way in which Pinot Noir from Alsace can be delicious. It should prove delightfully versatile for at least the next half dozen years, though I would not want to miss out on savoring its youthful virtues. Why don’t more Alsace growers render something like this rather than trying to imitate Burgundy? As usual chez Dirler, I was forced during my most recent visit to take a slightly abbreviated tour of the two most recent collections on account of this family’s sheer multitude of bottlings, but it is clear from their 2008s that this remains one of the most frequently exciting – and generally consistent – sources of wine in Alsace, making it unfortunate that one doesn’t see Dirler-Cade wines more often in the U.S. Moreover, this is an estate that’s rendering highly distinctive; often deliciously unorthodox; but never fashion-pandering innovations while retaining a clear and constant vision of how the classic cepages of Alsace should perform in sites that can boast some of the longest – not to mention most-deserved – reputations of any in their region. All this having been noted, 2009 was a challenge even here: sometimes well-met, but seldom entirely surmounted. Rieslings were being harvested as early as mid-September, and Jean Dirler observes that had he cut back the crop on his Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer rather than allowing bunches to remain abundant, he would really have had a problem with sky-high potential alcohol. (For more on the Dirlers’ sites and methods, consult my reports on earlier vintages.)Importer: Robert Chadderdon Selections, New York, NY; tel. (212) 757-8185
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