The Ostertag 2009 Pinot Gris Zellberg smells of salted, roasted peanuts and coffee, wreathed with musky narcissus. Glossy and expansive, it carries toasted, low-toned flavors all the way through to a impressively persistent finish that incorporates just enough primary juiciness and saliva-inducing salinity to encourage the next sip. This certainly possesses a more striking personality than most Pinot Gris of its vintage, and ought to prove exceedingly useful at table over the coming 5-7 years (read: “will go places other wines fear to tread”). Andre Ostertag picked most of his 2008s in the second week of October – relatively early for that vintage – and only 8-10 days behind the period during which the bulk of his 2009s were brought in. “The central problem with 2009,” observes Ostertag, “was to achieve balanced dryness in the finished wines.” (He would exempt Gewurztraminer from that comment, because he always finishes it unapologetically sweet; though here too, as my tasting notes demonstrate, something to counterbalance residual sugar was wanting.) Ostertag calls 2008 “a classic vintage, in the manner of the 1980s (decade),” and on reflection came up with the vintage analogy that had most struck me, namely to 1988.Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524-1524