Domaine Ostertag Zellberg Pinot Gris, Alsace, France

安德烈酒莊澤爾伯格灰皮諾白葡萄酒

點擊次數：8777

The Ostertag 2007 Pinot Gris Zellberg has equally high alcohol and a bit more residual sugar than its Fronholz counterpart, yet it tastes less sweet. It also betrays a hint of the significant contingent of new barriques in which it was raised. Smelling almost like a butcher shop; voluminous and palpably dense; tasting of ripe peach and meat stock, this Zellberg displays not only chalkiness but also peat- and bacon-like smokiness and a lip-licking saline savor that redeems it from any drying tendencies engendered by Ostertag’s choice of wood for framing it. I must say – and Ostertag shares this impression – that I associate quartzite content with precisely such a promotion of salty minerality. I would expect this to merit following for at least half a dozen years. The wood component was far less well-integrated in the low-toned 2006 rendition. Andre Ostertag was like most of his region’s best growers very selective about what he chose to bottle in 2006. He is especially enthusiastic about his uncompromisingly intense 2007s and the sense in which the Rieslings resemble a throwback to the moderate must weights and refreshing acidity that was common in Alsace before the string of warm vintages that has been nearly uninterrupted since 1988. I was surprised to find myself as impresses as I was with the 2007 Pinot Gris bottlings here, but Ostertag says it was simply unfair until very recently to compare his results with that grape to those with Riesling, because the vines of the former were too young. They’ve passed 20 years of age now, and that, he opines, is why they can start to show their real potential (and, I would add, stand up to Ostertag’s use of barriques). While I hate to take up space with this matter, readers should be aware that wines from this estate that formerly bore the village name “Epfig” will now merely be coded with the capital letter “E” because of certain limitations that the authorities have now imposed on the use of village designates and the definition of “village level” names. (Frankly, I wouldn’t even want to understand the regulation if I thought it would prove intelligible!)Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524-1524