Kubler’s 2009 Gewurztraminer Weingarten displays ripe pear with cinnamon and mint to which its overt sweetness is reasonably appropriate. Soft, expansive, and caressing it still finishes with an admirable and in the context of its grape and vintage surprising buoyancy and primary juiciness. I cannot claim, though, that it represents any qualitative advance over its ostensibly lesser “K” sibling-bottling, nor to have an idea in what context I would drink it other than solo, andplan on doing that 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