Domaine Barmes-Buecher Gewurztraminer Hengst Vendanges Tardives, Alsace Grand Cru, France

巴爾梅布徹亨斯特遲摘瓊瑤漿白葡萄酒

點擊次數(shù)：3047

Scents of herbal-floral liqueur but also intimations of fresh baked goods and alkaline and crushed stone minerality in Barmes-Buecher’s 2008 Gewurztraminer Hengst Vendange Tardive are confirmed on a palate soothing; nearly buttery in texture; and suffused with caramel and honey. An unexpected suggestion of cherry jam crops up in the finish, which is fortunately possessed of sufficient fresh fruit to ward off any stickiness from the wine’s nearly hundred grams of residual sugar. (I noticed subsequent to my visit that there was also a Rosenberg Gewurztraminer V.T. which, inexplicably, was not shown me.)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

The Barmes-Buecher 2006 Gewurztraminer Hengst Vendange Tardive offers an odd but interesting and delicious juxtaposition of candied lime peel, black tea, butterscotch, mint, and diverse pit fruit preserves. Like its Pfersigberg counterpart, this is flatteringly creamy, yet manages to come up with some primary juiciness – an impression that perhaps results from the higher acidity of these two more nobly than normal botrytized pickings – and the result is a finish of considerable length and complexity whose sense of sweetness is only modest. I would plan on checking this out again within the next year or two.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