Barmes’ 2005 Gewurztraminer Pfersigberg features pineapple, licorice, and bitter-sweet floral aromas that hardly betray it as Gewurztraminer. Silken-textured and rich on the palate, it reveals meaty and spicy dimensions more familiar from its variety and finishes (somewhat sweetly) both broad and long. The affable Francois Barmes vocally advocates biodynamic viticulture and earlier harvesting to achieve balanced wines of juicy fruit and digestabilite. That said, more than a few of those I tasted were big-bodied to say the least, and certain of them could not handle their alcohol.Importer: Sussex Wine Merchants, Moorestown, NJ; tel. (856) 608 9644; also, a Thomas Calder Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011-33-1-46-45-15-29.