Deiss's 1997 Tokay-Pinot Gris Altenberg de Bergheim was produced entirely in oak (approximately 20% new casks). It is a wine of great richness, breadth, and depth, with smoky fruit aromas, and a plump, mouth-coating personality. Its sweet yellow fruit flavors are spiced by the oak in an extremely appealing manner, yet the wood flavors return with a vengeance in the finish. If this creamy-textured, medium-to-full-bodied offering's huge fruit is ultimately capable of absorbing the oak it will be a first rate effort. Projected maturity: 2002-2010.Importer: Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel (202) 832-9083.

Just about any French vineyard owner will talk terroir given the opportunity, but no one argues the case for terroir more passionately than Marcel Deiss. Should any readers be traveling to Alsace, Deiss is definitely a man worth visiting. All of his wines exhibit distinctive personalities. Deiss produced two outstanding examples of Tokay-Pinot Gris in 1992. Both the 1992 Tokay-Pinot Gris Bergheim (from limestone soils) and the 1992 Tokay-Pinot Gris Altenberg are concentrated, powerful wines with 13%-14% alcohol. Both are dry, but by Deiss's standards, fatter than he would prefer. These are large-scaled, well-endowed, rich, young wines made from yields of less than two tons per acre. The Altenberg reveals more botrytis in the nose, but both wines possess plenty of honey, and gobs of flavor and power. Drinkable now, they promise to evolve for a decade. Importer: Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832-9083