Schleret’s 2005 Pinot Blanc – largely Auxerrois – offers scents of lime and tangerine, a creamy, sherbet-like expression of citrus fruits on a refreshing palate, and a sweet herbal and citrus character in a soft, but delicate finish. (A faux Muscat character is very much in keeping with the behavior of Auxerrois in Alsace.) This is one of the few Alsace wines I could drink for breakfast, and is a model of the combination of personality and abundant flavor with delicacy and infectious drinkability that Pinot d’Alsace can deliver but nowadays too seldom does.Charles Schleret (who founded his small, eponymous domaine in the 1950s) may be signaling that he is near retirement, but little had changed since I last visited him nearly fifteen years ago including his enthusiasm, the generally high quality, the style (save for a tad more residual sugar) and simple hierarchy of his wines, their leisurely pace of release, or the large apron he wears over top of a jacket and tie. It is hard here not to succumb to nostalgia, and to become more than a little peeved in recognition of how rare Alsace wine with such versatility, modesty, simple labeling (!) and effortless grace has nowadays become. All this praise aside (and I tasted a range of older wines as well on this occasion) numerous Schleret 2004s (which are currently on the market) were obscured by an overtly milky cast as a byproduct of their malo-lactic fermentations.Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910 1990