Domaine Marcel Deiss Pinot Gris Beblenheim, Alsace, France

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The 2005 Pinot Gris Beblenheim leads with pungent smoked meat, musk, brown spice, and citrus zest aromas, comes to the palate glossy, polished, and superbly-concentrated, with peachy, honeyed richness, and finishes with surprising delicacy and lift, again at the price of some sweetness. (Deiss professes disinterest in the analyses of his wines, but he checks at my request, verifying that this has 26 grams of residual sugar, which, granted, is a lot more than one tastes.) As with a number of his wines on the day I visited, Deiss views this 2005 as relatively restrained and backward vis a vis the corresponding 2004, whereas I perceived many of his 2005 wines as equally when not more generous. Jean-Michel Deiss has been growing some of the finest wines in Alsace for more than a quarter century and with them – as well as with his passionately articulate discourse – capturing the imagination and affection of wine enthusiasts world-wide. But the bearded sage of Bergheim is never satisfied, and beginning in the late eighties, he began to completely re-think his wines and means of truly embracing his terroirs. The result was new acquisitions and plantings to achieve (beginning a decade ago) single-vineyard, field-blend bottling the likes of which had scarcely been seen in Alsace for the better part of a century, and to certain of which the governing authorities have recently been persuaded (perhaps as much by Deiss’ metaphysics of terroir as by the profundity of his vinous results) to grant the status “Grand Cru.” Deiss’ special “vins de terroir” are released only after he judges them to have had sufficient time in bottle to being to show their personalities (with the 2005s only appearing in 2007). Two thousand five, incidentally, was one of the smallest harvests in this estate’s history, and fraught with difficulty, Deiss reports. Even with “varietally-“ labeled wines, Deiss can display unorthodoxy. Time only permitted me a too-brief taste of three from among Deiss’s recent nobly sweet releases, none of which one should even think about drinking for years. A 2004 Gewurztraminer V.T. from the Altenberg and Burg displayed pungent aromatics, great sweetness, and a tactile phenolic presence. I found the new wood on a 2005 Pinot Gris S.G.N. rather intrusive. And while there was no questioning the sheer concentration, viscosity, and sweetness of Deiss’ 2005 Gewurztraminer “Quintessence” – a wine selected berry-by-shriveled berry from the Altenberg and vinified in a tiny tank – it is never easy to judge such elixirs as wine even under the best of conditions. All things considered, I have elected to defer my responsibility for assessing the nobly sweet wines at this address for a later occasion.Importer: Vintus, Pleasantville, NY; tel. (914) 769-3000

The Deiss 2004 Pinot Gris Beblenheim is resinous, musky, and smoky in the nose, unusually juicy and bright in its peachy fruit for this variety, and finishes with pungent smokiness but refinement and surprising delicacy, for which the price is a noticeable but well-integrated sweetness. Jean-Michel Deiss has been growing some of the finest wines in Alsace for more than a quarter century and with them – as well as with his passionately articulate discourse – capturing the imagination and affection of wine enthusiasts world-wide. But the bearded sage of Bergheim is never satisfied, and beginning in the late eighties, he began to completely re-think his wines and means of truly embracing his terroirs. The result was new acquisitions and plantings to achieve (beginning a decade ago) single-vineyard, field-blend bottling the likes of which had scarcely been seen in Alsace for the better part of a century, and to certain of which the governing authorities have recently been persuaded (perhaps as much by Deiss’ metaphysics of terroir as by the profundity of his vinous results) to grant the status “Grand Cru.” Deiss’ special “vins de terroir” are released only after he judges them to have had sufficient time in bottle to being to show their personalities (with the 2005s only appearing in 2007). Two thousand five, incidentally, was one of the smallest harvests in this estate’s history, and fraught with difficulty, Deiss reports. Even with “varietally-“ labeled wines, Deiss can display unorthodoxy. Time only permitted me a too-brief taste of three from among Deiss’s recent nobly sweet releases, none of which one should even think about drinking for years. A 2004 Gewurztraminer V.T. from the Altenberg and Burg displayed pungent aromatics, great sweetness, and a tactile phenolic presence. I found the new wood on a 2005 Pinot Gris S.G.N. rather intrusive. And while there was no questioning the sheer concentration, viscosity, and sweetness of Deiss’ 2005 Gewurztraminer “Quintessence” – a wine selected berry-by-shriveled berry from the Altenberg and vinified in a tiny tank – it is never easy to judge such elixirs as wine even under the best of conditions. All things considered, I have elected to defer my responsibility for assessing the nobly sweet wines at this address for a later occasion.Importer: Vintus, Pleasantville, NY; tel. (914) 769-3000