A greenhouse-like diversity of floral and leafy shadings in the nose of the Barmes-Buecher 2008 Gewurztraminer Herrenweg is accompanied by faintly fungal notes no doubt ascribable to low-level botrytis. A surprising suggestion of fresh Rainier cherry tinged with brown spices emerges on a substantial, subtly juicy palate. And speaking of subtle, despite 15 grams of residual sugar and 14.1% alcohol, this evinces hardly any sense of sweetness and even less heat. It finishes with a bit of rustic roughness but also with considerable complexity of herbal, floral, spice, fruit and mineral elements, and ought to be quite useful at table over the next half dozen years. As Francois Barmes was in the U.S. presenting his wines all the time that I was in Alsace last November, I tasted with his wife Genevieve and (for the first time in serious conversation with) his son Maxime, who clearly has the sharp wits and experimental spirit to harness his youthful enthusiasm. (I did not, however, ask him to play devil’s advocate in the case for biodynamics, which is by now a well-established practice at this address! For more on Barmes’ methodology, consult my report in issue 188.) Most of the 2009 Rieslings were almost shockingly low in acidity, but whether or not and if so to what degree they were thereby handicapped varied depending on the individual cuvee. Overall, Barmes’ approach to this vintage seems to have been to avoid problems from rapidly-ascending sugar and low acidity by picking relatively early, even if at the price of capturing only modestly ripe flavors. The array of 2009s I have reviewed is somewhat abbreviated, first on account of decisions the domaine made to conflate or omit the bottling of certain cuvees; secondly because a couple of Pinot Gris were still fermenting when I visited last November; and thirdly since from among a trio of whites still in tank awaiting sulfuring and bottling – testimony to the anomalously and inexplicably slow evolution of 2009s at this address – only one was in condition amenable to assessment. The 2008 collection is, thankfully, much more typically excellent.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

Mint, bergamot, celery seed, brown spices and rose petal on the nose of the Barmes-Buecher 2007 Gewurztraminer Herrenweg take on additional force on a juicy and kinetic palate, with tactile impingement of brown spices and heady inner-mouth perfume. The freshness persists on this wine’s long finish even with its overt sweetness. For reasons I didn’t quite get, most of the 2007 crop of Hengst went into this Herrenweg bottling, which might well to some way toward explaining its quality. I’m not sure in what circumstances other than solo I would serve this excellent value in unabashedly sweet Gewurztraminer, but one could probably also cellar it for at least 6-8 years. There is as usual a lot of fascinating wine in Francois Barmes’ constantly shifting, hugely diverse as well as just plain huge 2007 collection, though the level of success was on the whole consistent. As in the past, though, I remained relatively unconvinced by Barmes’ way with Pinot Gris, despite its being a grape that elsewhere revealed special potential in 2007. I can’t say 2006 here represents an advertisement for Barmes’ conscientious and long-standing biodynamic practices, but then, in a year of rampant rot, surely the absence of anti-botrytis sprays has to have been sorely felt at many biodynamic estates. There were a couple of 2006s here too fungal to recommend, with the majority of what was a reduced line-up meriting mild recommendation provided they are drunk-up soon.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