The Kreydenweiss 2008 Pinot Gris Clos Rebberg features the most obvious as well as slightly awkward lactic character – over and beyond the creamy element in its texture – of any wine in its collection. Sappy apple fruit is accented by toasted nuts, citrus rind, and alkaline mineral notes. And for all of its milky aspect, this preserves an admirable sense of primary juiciness in its finish. Hopefully it will be both more knitted and more complex in a few years’ time – and I certainly wouldn’t worry about its remaining healthy for at least half a dozen years – but this is disappointing in terms of the special potential of Pinot Gris in its vintage, a potential that is evidenced in Kreydenweiss’s ostensibly lesser cuvee from Lerchenberg. Antoine Kreydenweiss is now running his family’s Alsace domaine on an ongoing basis, while his father Marc concentrates on their property in the Costieres de Nimes. I was dismayed – especially in view of such high-quality 2009s and 2008s – to learn that this justly-renowned domaine for the time being no longer has a U.S. importer. Most of the 2008s received 15 months’ elevage. The 2009s were all harvested early even by vintage standards and harbor nuances not found in most Alsace wines of their vintage, being at times capable – as Antoine Kreydenweiss had remarked of his 2008s – of projecting a sense of their sites without obviously revealing their varietal identity. I did not taste several slowly-evolving 2009s, including a Clos Rebberg Pinot Gris that was still fermenting when I visited last November.No current U.S. importer.

Kreydenweiss’ 2006 Pinot Gris Clos Rebberg smells complexly of very ripe peach, mothball, black truffle, and damp forest floor. Looser and softer on the palate than most of its fellow 2006s at this address, it lays down a carpet of subtly decadent flavors, finishing with the addition of alkaline mineral suggestions. Despite the rather evolved nature of its sous-bois, fusil, and fungal elements it nevertheless retains refreshing juiciness. I would monitor it carefully but anticipate 2-3 more years of satisfaction. Marc Kreydenweiss and is son Antoine continue to favor true dryness, as well as malo-lactic fermentation and long lees contact, conveying a unique style that has stood the test of time not only from vintage to vintage (including numerous 2006 successes) but in the bottle as well. “It was really an extremely easy vintage in the cellar,” remarks Antoine Kreydenweiss of 2007 with its healthy, high acid (nearly all tartaric) fruit, and a picking window “that lasted from the 19th of September until the end of November, enabling each cepage and parcel to be picked at its precise level of maturity.” There was a Riesling S.G.N. here in 2007, which had by no means finished fermenting the last time I visited.Importer: Wilson-Daniels, St. Helena, CA; tel. (707) 963-9661