Tasting Notes and Photos from January 1999 Trip to Alsace and Burgundy

Alsacian Tasting Notes

Photography and Tasting Notes by Wes Hagen, Vineyard Manager, Clos Pepe Vineyards

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Marcel DEISS

(Bergheim, Alsace)

This is the Deiss production facility in Bergheim. The winery is behind this building.
Steve and Catherine Pepe (Vigneron and l'Agent respectively) enjoy being left alone in the tasting room.

DEISS PINOT BLANC 1997:  Apples, toast, zippy mouth feel -- great intenisty for a $12 wine.  Hints of minerals, seriously bright acidity.  Needs a little cellar time for the acid to come into balance.

DEISS MUSCATELLE ALSACE 1996:  Orange peel, spice, nutmeg on the nose.  Apply and acidic in the mouth -- pleasant but not as intense as the Pinot Blanc.  Wonderful nose is not expressed as I might have expected in the mouth.  Clean and pleasant wine -- I would have preferred to try this wine with food.  Thai or spicy Chinese, perhaps.  Sushi would be interesting.

DEISS RIESLING 1995 'ST.HIPPOLYTE':  This wine comes from the granitic soils of the St. Hippolyte vineyard -- and the minerality is well expressed both in the nose and mouth of this wine.  Very mineral and acidic -- not as much flavor and intensity as I would have liked..all citrus and mineral.  Perhaps this wine had been open for a day or two.  (??)

DEISS RIESLING 1996 'BERGHEIM':  More varietal flavor than the 1995 Hippolyte.  Massively acidic and mineral, but a little more roundness in the midpalate to justify such mouth-puckering acidity.

DEISS 'BURG' REISLING 1990 'BERGHEIM':  Beautiful varietal nose -- follows through in the mouth.  A beautiful wine, great midpalate intensity, minerality begins to become a bit oily (pleasant hint of diesel), balanced wonderfully by awesome, vibrant fruit (apples).  Dry, clean finish.  Very varietal, very delicious.

DEISS 'BURG' RIESLING 1995 'BERGHEIM':  Off dry.  Some sugar, still nice and varietal -- a little awkward though -- opened a day or two perhaps?  No balance or finnesse, like the 1990.  Maybe another 5 years will turn this one around.  Plenty of acid for the long haul.

DEISS RIESLING 1994 VENDAGES TARDIVE (LATE HARVEST):  Smoky, mineral, sweetness makes the acid seem tame in comparison.

DEISS RIESLING 1994 GRAND CRU 'ALTENBERG':  From the limestone soils of Altenberg, this wine exhibits a honeyed varietal nose, brisk appley acidity, but I found it a little thin in the middle for a Grand Cru.

DEISS RIESLING 1995 GRAND CRU VENDAGES TARDIVE 'SCHOENENBERG':  A fabulous botrytisized wine -- the grapes were hung in special barns until the botryitis fully coated the grapes and took much of the water from inside the berries, leaving the flavors super-intense.  Apricot and honey on the nose -- unfortunately this wine had been open a day or two and exhibited a little volatile acidity.  Still honeyed and delicious in the mouth, great acidity and zippy finish.  Drinking nicely -- 8-9& residual sugar -- pretty sweet.  Some apple but mostly apricot fruit.  Very tasty, but I wish this wine would have been a fresh bottle.

DEISS PINOT GRIS 1994 'BERGHEIM' VENDAGES TARDIVE:  From the vineyards surrounding the winery -- this wine had a unique nose -- honey, sugar, and perhaps enough volative acidity (bottle had been opened at least a day) to bring cedar, tobacco, and an almost soapy 'clean' smell.  Sweet and viscous in the mouth.  Not as much acid as the other wines, but enough to make the wine somewhat balanced.

DEISS GEWURTZTRAMINER 1988 GRAINES NOBLES:  Serious late harvest -- the 'Graines Nobles' designation means that this wine was made from naturally botrytisized grapes -- a rare occurance -- G.N. wines can be fairly rare and expensive.  A lovely specimen!  All honey, minerals and tea flavors -- the tea flavor added a bit of tannin in the mouth which was a new taste in white wine to me -- very exotic and interesing.  Enough acid and minerality to finish with structure and balance.  This wine was packed with power, not so much with finesse.

DEISS TOKAY PINOT GRIS 1994 'BERGHEIM' S. GRAINES NOBLE:  A surprising 'oak' like flavor on the nose -- even though it never touched the stuff.  Sweet!  Apricot/apple/honey -- finishes with serious acidity and balance.  Check back with this wine in three or four years when the acid is in better balance with the opulent botrytisized flavors and richness.

DEISS GEWURTZTRAMINER 1995 'BERGHEIM':  Again, pronounced tea note on the nose, which I've been told comes from skin contact in the wine.  Spice, pear and apricot in nose and mouth.  Bottle was a bit oxidized, and the flavors would have been much cleaner and more pleasant if the bottle was fresh.

DEISS GEWURTZTRAMINER 1994' BERGHEIM' VENDAGES TARDIVE: Honeyed, spicy nose -- very lovely and varietal.  More tea in the mouth along with honey. Very tasty wine, good acid, lovely balance.  One of my favorites in the tasting.  (Or am I just getting drunk after 14 wines.  I think I was spitting...)

DEISS GEWURTZTRAMINER 1995 'BERGHEIM' VENDAGES TARDIVE: Again, the overwhelming flavors by both nose and mouth are spicy honey and tea.  This wine didn't have the acid structure of the 1994, and didn't seem as fragrant or varietally flavored.  A nice wine, but I preferred the 1994.

Dopff & Irion

(Riquewihr)

This is the tasting room -- a newer building than the production facility.  Unfortunately, the winery and tasting room were closed.		This is the winery -- just across the street from the tasting room.  Beautiful old building in a beautiful old town.
You might recognize the label.  Dopff and Irion make some delicious Grand Cru Rieslings.

HUGEL

(Riquewihr)

Steve Pepe, the Clos' infamous Vigneron, confirms our worst fears.  Hugel is closed.  Oh well.  There's a few other wines to try.

Hubert TRIMBACH

(Ribeauville, Alsace)

The picturesque towers of the TRIMBACH winery in Ribeauville, a tiny little hamlet in Alsace.
War of the Vignerons.  Hubert Trimbach gently heckles Steve Pepe for not using the spit-bucket during the tasting marathon.
A 1945 bottle of TRIMBACH Riesling.  First post-war vintage.  'You mean we're French again?'
Bottles without labels age in the cellar until they are ready or the distributors demand them.
That's a lot of wine.  Good wine.  Happy, cool wine.
An example of the TRIMBACH label.
This rather gloomy picture shows the famous St. Hune Vineyard and Church.  Frederick Emile Trimbach is buried here.

Before tasting, Hubert TRIMBACH explains his theory on making wine: 'I make wine for people who love wine with food, and enjoy wines that are at their best at the table.' With that said, these are the wines that we tried with Hubert.  We should have brought a picnic with us -- or at least some foie gras, or maybe a second liver.

TRIMBACH PINOT BLANC 1997:  Nose shows apples, yeast, touch of minerality and a bit of SO2 until the wine had been opened a few minutes (quickly disappeared).  Pleasant and fruity, bone dry on the finish with minimal intensity.  More acid than flavor, but a very pleasant wine for $8-$9.  A great quaffing white with sushi or other foods that match up with very austere wines.  Try with oysters, perhaps.

TRIMBACH RIESLING 'FREDERIC EMILE' 1992:  Pristine for 7 years bottle age.  Perfect mix of vibrant fruit and bottle-aged flavors.  Apples, spice and acid. A bit rounder than some of the younger specimens, more minerality and intensity than most Rieslings I've had.

TRIMBACH RIESLING 'FREDERIC EMILE' 1993:  Hubert Trimbach, our tasting guide, said this wine was well-suited for an American Palate, which is a nice way of saying that Americans can't handle acidic wines.  The acid in this wine was rather subdued in comparison.  A bit buttery and volatile.  Maybe opened for a few days.  Less minerality than other vintages.

TRIMBACH RIESLING 'FREDERIC EMILE' 1994:  Fat nose and rather round in the mouth -- varietal mineral flavors-hint of oil/diesel-very pleasant, which Hubert explains as a bottle-aged mineral component to Alsacian wines -- Riesling in particular.  Finishes with seriously zippy acidity-hinting at citrus.  Concentration and intensity were still amazing.  I liked this wine.  And I'm an American.  Go figure.

TRIMBACH RIESLING 'FREDERIC EMILE' 1995:  Apple and spice. Well-structured, austere, beginning to mellow a bit, but still I am overcome by the levels of acidity in these wines, which I became slowly accustomed to during my trip.  Much like the 1995 reserve, this wine came from more calcareous soils -- so not as much minerality.

TRIMBACH RIESLING RESERVE 1995:  Delicate and dry -- super clean and super structured.  Very austere.  Clean and crisp -- touch of bottle-aged minerality, which is the politically correct way to describe the pleasant, slightly diesel smells of older Rieslings.  Granitic soils, which lends more minerality.

TRIMBACH RIESLING 'CLOS ST. HUNE' 1993:  This is the finest 'terroir' of any Reisling in Alsace -- a seriously intense wine with tons of minerality and charm.  These wines can easily go 20+ years in a good vintage.  An American palate is surprised by the acidity -- beyond austere, this wine is masochistic.  Beautiful balance and fruit is still bright.

TRIMBACH RIESLING 'CLOS ST. HUNE' 1987:  I actually drank this wine with food at a dinner two days later, and what a difference it made to be enjoyed with bread and cheese and Bresse chicken.  The wine really opened up and spoke to me in different ways with each kind of food I put in my mouth.  The minerality and malic (acidic apple) intensity really seemed to peak about a half-hour after the bottle was open, about 1/3 through the meal.  The fruit is still holding up after 10 years in the bottle, and the wine doesn't even hint at roundness, although the minerals soften the acid a bit, it is in no way a wine that attempts to be anything but an all-out assault on the palate.

TRIMBACH PINOT GRIS 1996:  Good minerality for the varietal, excellent acidity, which needs not be said for Trimbach wines -- which all seem to have great structure as a pre-requisite.  Toastiness and truffle.  Nice with salmon.  I noted a little veggie aroma on this one -- asparagus, smokiness.

TRIMBACH PINOT GRIS 'RESERVE PERSONNEL' 1996:  This single-vineyard wine is only made in years when the growing conditions were perfect and the fruit is perfect.  More powerful than the regular 1996 bottling, still a little olive/asparagus flavor by nose.  In the mouth it is a bit of a different creature, more floral and peachy intensity, which makes me guess there was a little botrytis on the fruit.  Wonderful intensity -- builds in the midpalate and then finishes with very vibrant acid.

TRIMBACH GEWURTZTRAMINER RESERVE 1994:  Awesome wine -- maybe my favorite of the tasting.  Massively floral, spicy nose -- honey, malic acid, jasmine and vanilla.  Hubert adds lychee, pineapple, orange peel, clove and saffron..holy shit this wine packs a wallop.  Finishes with great structure to boot.  Seek this one out.  Although 1994 wasn't vaunted in Alsace, the Gewurtztraminers were good, Hubert explained.

TRIMBACH GEWURTZTRAMINER 'RIBEAUPIERRE' 1993:  Not as aromatic as the 1994 Reserve (see above) but better mid-palate intensity, gets oily and round then intense with alcohol and dry minerality.  Beautiful clean finish.  Lots of acid, as can be expected.  Nose isn't complex, but the wine really shines in the mouth -- one of the nicest varietal Gewurtztraminers I've ever tasted.  Clean, efficient winemaking makes this a star. Still could go another 5-10 years in a cellar and just get better.

TRIMBACH GEWURTZTRAMINER 'RIBEAUPIERRE' 1983:  This was a mystery wine presented by Hubert, who asked Steve Pepe and I to guess the vintage. Honeyed, aged flavors.  Tastes a bit nutty and intense -- but seems to have lost some of the more interesting varietal characteristics that I found in the 1994 Reserve.  Acid is still strong, but it's ready to drink, if not a little bit over the hill.  Definitely not 'on the way up', but drinking nicely.

TRIMBACH RIESLING 'FREDERIC EMILE' VENDAGES TARDIVE 1990: Potential alcohol on this wine was 16.5% at picking -- whoo-hoo is that sweet.  Like 30 degrees Brix.  Honeyed, wonderful varietal flavors at 1-2% residual sugar.  I like wines at this level of r.s., especially because they SEEM so sweet until the underlying acid soaks into the sides of the tongue.  Quite viscous in the mouth -- bristles with fine, malic acidity on the finish.  A smokiness and hint of oiliness derived from granitic soil and minerals in the wine.  Tiny hint of vegetal flavor right before the finish, but it is well-masked by the honeyed, vanilla flavors.

TRIMBACH GEWURTZTRAMINER VENDAGES TARDIVES 1996:  Smoky, honey nose -- but not overtly varietal, not a lot of spice.  Nutty and great minerality.  A better expression or 'terroir' than the varietal.  3.5% residual sugar.

TRIMBACH GEWURTZTRAMINER GRAINES NOBLES 1994: Oh, so delicious...!  Massive intensity carries the honeyed, 9% residual sugar as easily as Barry Sanders carries a football.  Vibrant, fruity, nutty, sweet, with enough acidity to make the whole experience of sipping like an 'OHM' meditation.  The becoming (nose), the being (midpalate intensity and sweetness), and the closing (the beautiful acid structure). Written at the bottom of my tasting notes in all caps: 'WONDERFUL'.

Domaine WEINBACH

(Kintzheim/Keyserberg, Alsace)

The historic production facility of Domaine Weinbach, which is tucked between the cities of Kintzheim and Keyserberg.

WEINBACH RIESLING 'SCHLOSSBERG' 1997:  This wine was produced by young vines on granitic, sandy soils.  Beautiful and fat in the front of the palate, nice intensity -- very juicy.  Lovely varietal flavors laced with a touch of the grnaite minerality.  4 g/l of residual sugar.

WEINBACH RIESLING 'CUVEE ST. CATHERINE' 'SCHLOSSBERG' Grand Cru 1997:  This wine is produced from old vines in the Grand Cru vineyards of Schlossberg. Vines have been planted at this site since the 9th Century.  A little more austere than the regular bottling -- yet by far more complex -- intense and a bit more exotic fruit.  Lovely minerality, and a hint of toast on the bright, acidic finish.  Still very, very young and tight -- needs cellar time.

WEINBACH TOKAY PINOT GRIS 'ST.CATHERINE' 1997:  Catherine Weinbach recommended this wine with seared foie gras, poultry, lamb and mushrooms.  The vineyard is comprised of limestone under clay, and the wine exhibits a spicy, smoky, honey flavors with hints of citrus and tropicality.  Residual sugar was between 1% and 2%.

WEINBACH GEWURTZTRAMINER 'CUVEE ALTENBOURG' 1997:  Another wine from the clay and limestone-based vineyards of Altenbourg, it was explained by Catherine Weinbach that this wine, like all the Weinbach selections, are pressed very gently to avoid astringency in their wines.  This was an awesome example of careful winemaking -- a fantastically varietal Gewurtz showing a perfumed nose of honey, tea and rose-petal -- hints of cinnamon and ginger in the mouth, an intense midpalate and zippy acid in the finish.  A lovely, seamless wine.

WEINBACH GEWURTZTRAMINER 'GRAINES NOBLES' 'FURSTENTUM' 1994: Again, 'Graines Nobles' wines are those made in special vintages when the climate is perfect for the sporulation of the 'noble rot' botrytis cinerea.  The botrytis steals much of the water from the grapes by making tiny perforations in the grape skin, and as a result, the wines become viscous, sweet, and often honeyed and smell of apricots. This wine was an amazing example, and was awarded 95 points by the Wine Spectator.  It didn't suck.  Massive intensity.  Super-honeyed with flavors of quince, apricot, tea, smokiness framed by awesome bright acid.  As explained by Catherine Weinbach, our host, when Alsacian wines age, the floral components are usually subdued and the mineral flavors begin to soften and take precedence.  This wine contains 80 grams/liter (8%) residual sugar, and has enough acidity to be balanced.

Burgundy

Wines and Tasting Notes

Tasting Notes, Webpage and Photographs by Wes Hagen, Vineyard Manager Clos Pepe Vineyards

The La Tache vineyard near the village of Vosne-Romanee in Burgundy		This photograph shows the La Tache vineyard near the village of Vosne-Romanee in Burgundy.  Some of the most famous Burgundian vineyards in the world are a stone's throw from La Tache -- Romanee-Conti, Richebourg, Echezeaux, Romanee-St.Vivant, among others.  In these top two pictures, you will notice how all the greatest vineyards have excellent hillside exposure, south-facing with great amounts of calcareous clay in the topsoil, and limestone deep in the subsoil.
		Further south, in the Cote de Beaune, is the Holy Grail of Chardonnay vineyards -- Le Montrachet -- which consistently makes some of the best white wine in the world.  Next to Le Montrachet are a few other 'Montrachet' vineyards with colorful legends surrounding them.  The story, if I remember it right, was that all the vineyards were owned by a single vigneron, and when he had to split the properties up between his sons, he gave one section to his bastard son -- Batard Montrachet, one to his noble, chivalrous son, Chevalier Montrachet, and left the center, which shows the best qualities from both Chevalier and Batard, to his eldest son.  Chevalier Montrachet is supposed to be rich, elegant and pure, Batard Montrachet is supposed to be mineral and racy, while Le Montrachet combines the finesse, richness, and acidity of both.  So much for science -- it can all be summed up in myth...
The Holy Grail of Chardonnay vineyards -- Le Montrachet		This photograph shows the production facility of a famous Domaine, which was the cleanest winery I've ever seen.  As we finished our tour the cellar rats were steam-sanitizing the entire facility.  The temperature controlled stainless steel tanks on the right are unusual because of their square shape.  The big oval on the right is used for open-top maceration and fermentation of pinot noir grapes.

Tasting Notes: Burgundy Wines

Red:

The production facility of a famous Domaine

TRAPET Chambertin, 1969:  My birthday vintage, and the first 1969 wine I've ever tasted.  The wine wasn't nearly as impressive as the Chappelle Chambertin 1972, but was still an excellent example of the finnesse and complexity that a 20 year old Burgundy can muster.  The fruit was a bit done, I'll admit, and the wine suffered a bit for it.  This wine might have been better five years ago. Plummy, dried-herb and wilted petals (rose and violet), mouth filling intensity that seemed very shy -- the wine was a different beast every time I tasted.  An hour after decanting it, the wine seemed mute, and then when we were served our beef, it came to life again with nice mid-palate intensity.  Old wine is strange that way, I guess.

TRAPET Chapelle Chambertin, 1972:  This was the greatest bottle of wine I drank in France -- I would pick it in a second over the 1975 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti or the DRC Batard Montrachet from 1988.  Harmonious nose suggesting an initiation into the deeper secrets of Burgundian terroir -- opened up with both the sternness of solid acid and the muscle of seriously intense fruit and perfect cellaring. In the mouth: plum and dry spice, understated game and leather -- this wine, if needed to be categorized, was light of color and mostly feminine in taste profile -- light extraction, super-fine sediment that tasted of smoke.  Spicy roundness that builds with bottle-aged fruit flavors, violet and rose petal in the nose and mouth, building into a massive feminine beast still hinting of vanilla, oak and herb.  After tasting the wine with us, our host at the Rotie de Chambertin said two things: (On opening the bottle): 'This wine waited for tonight to be perfect.' (on finishing the bottle): 'The last drink is like saying goodbye to an old friend.' Fortunately for him, he's got a few thousand more 'friends' back in his cellar.

TRAPET Chambertin, 1978:  Enjoyed at the Rotie de Chambertin -- the food and the wine were a perfect match -- the Rotie sells no Chambertin wines from after 1981, which I respected.  The 1978 was a beast of a wine -- the first great Burgundy I tasted on the trip.  Massive and beautiful in the mouth, plenty of fruit left, but plummish and getting more and more smoky, gamey and barnyardish -- classic violets, tar, dark fruit, and oak so integrated it became a seamless component of the wine's complexity.

LABET Clos Vougeot, 'La Tour', Grand Cru, 1988:

GELIN 'Les Hervelets' Premier Cru:  Bright fruit on the nose, mix of red and black fruits, a bit androgynous, mixed between feminine and masculine flavors.  Strong herbs in the mouth, dill and mustard, vanilla -- starting to get bottle-aged flavors of leather.  Decent intensity.  Builds from herb to fruit to intensity to game/leather on the finish.  Clean, short finish.

Clos des Lambrays, 1990:  Still a bit young to be drinking, a bit hard and tannic, but beautiful fruit and the beginnings of great intensity.  The bright fruit had receded, the tannins didn't help in this regard, and some of the more masculine flavors began to emerge: leather and game, but the finish is still too hard for full enjoyment.  Another 5-10 years will do this wine wonders as the tannins begin to polymerize and fall into sediment.

White:

MONTMAIN Chablis, Premier Cru, 1996:  Intense and fairly fat in the middle for a Chablis.  Finishes bone-dry with intense acidity and bright citrus and malic flavors.  Solidly vinified from good fruit.

Fixin, Clos de la Pierre, Premier Cru (white Burgundy):  Decent minerality, but no 'wow'.  Tasted a bit like 1/2 malolactic aligote. Apple then toast -- only a hint of ML roundness in the middle and finish.  Good quaffing wine -- not indicative of Premier Cru quality in my opinion.

Chevalier Montrachet, 'Leflaive', 1993:  Opened up beautifully after ten minutes or so -- big, creamy, toasty vanilla.  Nose: mineral, metal, vanilla, apple, pear, hazelnut.  Vanilla becomes honey in the front of the palate, builds to a beautiful intensity of ML flavors and then finishes clean with limey-citrus and steely acidity/minerality.