From his home town – which Deiss calls “the capital of Gewurztraminer” – the 2004 Gewurztraminer Bergheim displays abundant rose petal, brown spices, smoked meat, peppermint, black tea, and peach preserves in the nose, a cocoa powder richness and glycerin-rich texture in the mouth, and a long, elegant, buoyant, subtly sweet, and intriguingly-complex finish featuring high-toned herbal essences, rose, tea and spice. Enjoy this beauty anytime over the next 7-9 years. Jean-Michel Deiss has been growing some of the finest wines in Alsace for more than a quarter century and with them – as well as with his passionately articulate discourse – capturing the imagination and affection of wine enthusiasts world-wide. But the bearded sage of Bergheim is never satisfied, and beginning in the late eighties, he began to completely re-think his wines and means of truly embracing his terroirs. The result was new acquisitions and plantings to achieve (beginning a decade ago) single-vineyard, field-blend bottling the likes of which had scarcely been seen in Alsace for the better part of a century, and to certain of which the governing authorities have recently been persuaded (perhaps as much by Deiss’ metaphysics of terroir as by the profundity of his vinous results) to grant the status “Grand Cru.” Deiss’ special “vins de terroir” are released only after he judges them to have had sufficient time in bottle to being to show their personalities (with the 2005s only appearing in 2007). Two thousand five, incidentally, was one of the smallest harvests in this estate’s history, and fraught with difficulty, Deiss reports. Even with “varietally-“ labeled wines, Deiss can display unorthodoxy. Time only permitted me a too-brief taste of three from among Deiss’s recent nobly sweet releases, none of which one should even think about drinking for years. A 2004 Gewurztraminer V.T. from the Altenberg and Burg displayed pungent aromatics, great sweetness, and a tactile phenolic presence. I found the new wood on a 2005 Pinot Gris S.G.N. rather intrusive. And while there was no questioning the sheer concentration, viscosity, and sweetness of Deiss’ 2005 Gewurztraminer “Quintessence” – a wine selected berry-by-shriveled berry from the Altenberg and vinified in a tiny tank – it is never easy to judge such elixirs as wine even under the best of conditions. All things considered, I have elected to defer my responsibility for assessing the nobly sweet wines at this address for a later occasion.Importer: Vintus, Pleasantville, NY; tel. (914) 769-3000

Asian spice and developed bready notes dominate the nose of this mature example. The palate is unctuous with intense, lingering notes of macadamia nuts. Drink with your next order of sweet & sour pork, before the fruit has a chance to fade.——W.E.(4/1/2009)—— 90