Toasted almond, cinnamon, and nutmeg join ripe peach in the nose of Kubler’s 2008 Pinot Gris K and on a creamy palate significantly marked by its component of lactic acid. Hints of caramel and slight sweetness enhance the rather confectionary aura projected, though more vintage-typical saliva-inducing salinity and alkaline notes as well as Pinot Gris-typical pungency serve for counterpoint. Plan to enjoy this over the next 4-5 years. Philippe Kubler is among the few Alsace growers I met to have elected – quite reasonably in my opinion – to market some of his 2009s ahead of (and others concurrent with) the corresponding 2008s. He notes that “the styles are dramatically different, and the 2008s deserve a year or longer in the bottle whereas the 2009s are ready to drink.” That said, I suspect that save for the V.T.s among them, Kubler’s 2008s aren’t really built for long aging.Importers include Chateau St. Martin, Bellevue, WA; tel. (425) 462 1717 and Wine Symphony, Inc., New York, NY; tel. (212) 226-8283