Domaine Ostertag Gewurztraminer Fronholz Vendanges Tardives, Alsace, France

安德烈酒莊弗朗海斯瓊瑤漿晚收甜白葡萄酒

點擊次數(shù)：8610

Like its 2007 counterpart, Ostertag’s 2006 Gewurztraminer Fronholz Vendange Tardive is enormously sweet (at the same roughly 100 grams residual sugar). Aromas and flavors of yellow plum and peach preserves and Chartreuse-like floral-herbal distillate set the confitured and liqueur-like tone for the entire performance here. But – contrary to what I would have imagined – there is a lovely, marine saline and alkaline tone that shines through the thickness of fruit concentrate and sheer sweetness, a mineral dimension that would frankly be welcome – and that I would have thought more likely – in the 2007. Iodine and smoky, peat-like, and caramel notes add further interest in a lingering, soothing finish. This isn’t classic Gewurztraminer, but it’s impressive. What’s more, I suspect here is a 2006 that could not only survive but even reward cellaring for more than a decade.Andre Ostertag was like most of his region’s best growers very selective about what he chose to bottle in 2006. He is especially enthusiastic about his uncompromisingly intense 2007s and the sense in which the Rieslings resemble a throwback to the moderate must weights and refreshing acidity that was common in Alsace before the string of warm vintages that has been nearly uninterrupted since 1988. I was surprised to find myself as impresses as I was with the 2007 Pinot Gris bottlings here, but Ostertag says it was simply unfair until very recently to compare his results with that grape to those with Riesling, because the vines of the former were too young. They’ve passed 20 years of age now, and that, he opines, is why they can start to show their real potential (and, I would add, stand up to Ostertag’s use of barriques). While I hate to take up space with this matter, readers should be aware that wines from this estate that formerly bore the village name “Epfig” will now merely be coded with the capital letter “E” because of certain limitations that the authorities have now imposed on the use of village designates and the definition of “village level” names. (Frankly, I wouldn’t even want to understand the regulation if I thought it would prove intelligible!)Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524-1524