The basic Rolly-Gassmann 2007 Muscat d’Alsace – this year two-thirds Ottonel – is mint-, wintergreen-, and apricot-scented; manages to be at one and the same time soothing, cooling, and pungent on the palate; and finishes with rather dominant sweetness. One could hold it for a few years, but I think it would be better drunk young, provided you want sweetness in your aperitif Muscat, as most Alsace wine lovers evidently do. One doesn’t expect – even in the marathon that constitutes a tasting of Rolly-Gassmann collections – to encounter more than a few dry-tasting wines, and in 2006 and 2007 that number was vanishingly small. These wines generally manage their residual sugar without obscuring vineyard-specific characteristics or fatiguing the palate, and furthermore botrytis – where present – is typically noble and pure. In 2006, though – with rampant botrytis and block-picking the order of the day rather than selection (for which there was no time) – results sometimes defied those generalizations. Echoing an opinion that I have seen borne out in recent borderline over-ripe vintages in Burgundy as well, Pierre Gassmann insists that “contrary to what the enologists advised, you needed to work with the lees just as long in 2006 as in any other vintage,” and his bottling times were, as usual, in September. As for 2007, it is the occasion for a group of the most promising young Rieslings I have tasted here since my first visit 25 years ago. There has been a significant recent increase in acreage, incidentally, thanks to the recent absorption of property from a cousin. A labeling development worth noting: the names of the appropriate village are now being appended to each single vineyard wine; however, I have continued to reference only the name of the site, as in past reports. Finally, readers must bear in mind the slow pace of Rolly-Gassmann releases, with even their non-noble 2007s expected to appear only between now and 2012.Importers include Vin de Garde Wines Ltd., Portland, OR; tel. (503) 224 2470; Esquin Imports Inc., San Anselmo, CA (415) 451 2520; and a Bryce McNamee Selection, Boutique Wines, Philadelphia, PA (914) 954 6583