The Barthelmes’ 2006 Pinot Noir Grand H – from old vines in the Hengst – offers black fruits overlain with smoke, brown spices, and game. Brine, iodine, and chalk lend a vividly mineral sense to this, but arguably also a touch of austerity, the sappy persistence of fruit flavors being slightly dried by the effects of new barriques as well as high fruit skin tannin. Will this unclench and achieve some measure of elegance or charm I wonder? Certainly on the surface it’s structured – and crafted with the intent – to age for a decade or more. To say that Maurice and Jacky Barthelme are bullish on their 2007s would be an understatement, as they seem to think that this is their best collection going all the way back to the wonderful 1988s with which they debuted in the U.S. (and a number of which I am still enjoying). Since they have been among those Alsace vintners most concerned with restraining sugar accretion while promoting ripe flavors, it’s understandable that they view 2007 as having been especially welcome when compared with other very recent vintages. “In September there was just enough rain; in October no rain; November was wonderful,” comments Jacky Barthelme, “so, we had time to harvest and to select.” Barthelmes were also among those growers who sold off a portion of their 2006 crop in bulk and declassified portions into generic bottlings, but the resulting bottlings are among the finest of that vintage, for which the brothers in part – unsurprisingly – credit biodynamic preparations and fruit that could be picked ripe early. My laudatory reviews of the (for this estate typically) outstanding value Mann Auxerrois Vieilles Vignes and Pinot Blanc bottlings of vintage 2007 can be found in issue 178.Importer: Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800
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