View All Ratings Sort by Winery 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Hengst Selection de Grains Nobles (10.4% alcohol, 247 g/l r.s. and 18.5 grams acidity; the first Hengst SGN at this address) Full gold. Remarkably varietal, essence-of- gewurztraminer aromas for a wine at this extreme level of ripeness and botrytis: all yellow fruits, rose petal and spices, lifted by bright acidity. Glyceral-thick, pure and chewy as a solid, with utterly captivating and amazingly clean high-toned flavors of lichee, jasmine, rose, linden flower, white pepper and smoked bacon. Finishes with astounding spicy persistence and powerful structure. This one may go 50 years. 98(+?) 2007 Domaine Schoffit Pinot Gris Rangen Clos Saint Theobald (9.4% alcohol, 265 g/l r.s. and 9.5 acidity) Pale yellow-gold. Almost a raisiny ripeness to the nose but with superb lift to the nobly rotten aromas of crystallized peach, honeycomb and orange marmalade. Glyceral-thick but with superb acidity giving this nectar even more energy and finesse than the VT. An essence of pure, carnal, botrytized pinot gris that almost magically retains the character of the variety. Wonderfully long and alive, with an almost citric brightness on the back. I don't expect to experience another bottle of this elixir, but it sure is easy to drink. 98 2007 Domaine Albert Mann Pinot Gris Altenbourg Le Tri (9.5% alcohol, 237 g/l r.s. and 10.2 grams acidity) Bright, full yellow- gold. Knockout high-toned nose offers roasted, botrytis-rich aromas of honeycomb, tobacco, cherry-almond and vanilla. Silky and viscous on entry, then sharply delineated in the middle owing to powerful ripe acidity, which intensifies the saline flavors of honey, nougat, caramel and peach syrup. Like an essence of pinot gris. The incredibly long finish features an exhilarating minty lift and a wonderfully light touch. This has near-perfect balance. 97 2005 Domaine Weinbach Pinot Gris Altenbourg Quintessence de Grains Nobles Cuvee d'Or ($624; 10% alcohol, 174 g/l r.s. and 8.9 acidity) Pure botrytis nose dominated by tangy crystallized orange and lemon peel. Wonderfully sweet but cut by sharp citrussy acidity that gives this extremely unevolved wine an almost painful quality today. It's remarkable that the varietal character comes through so clearly at this level of ripeness. The bracing finish mounts inexorably and goes on for minutes. An extraordinary sweet wine, likely to last for two or three decades. 97 2005 Domaine Weinbach Gewurztraminer Mambourg Selection de Grains Nobles Quintessence ($624; 10.8% alcohol, 188 g/l r.s. and 5.8 acidity) Full, deep yellow. Incredibly pure, high-toned nose offers near-magical floral lift to its mirabelle and peach fruit. Superripe, seamless and spherical, conveying an explosively primary quality to its yellow fruit flavors and a degree of finesse that's rare for gewurztraminer at this extreme level of ripeness. That ineffable floral treble note gives the endless finish a wonderfully perfumed, fresh quality. 97 2005 Domaine Zind Humbrecht Pinot Gris Clos Windsbuhl Selection de Grains Nobles Trie Speciale (about 500 g/l r.s. and 5% alcohol) Full orange-gold. Cherry-almond, orange liqueur and exotic spices on the nose. A freak of nature, and yet it somehow tastes like pinot gris, with orange oil and spices dominating. Incredible acidity lifts this out of the shockingly intense category and across the painful threshold. Offers an impossible blend of solidity and sweetness on the one hand and bracing acids on the other. How to score this? 97-99 2007 Domaine Leon Beyer Pinot Gris Selection de Grains Nobles Bright golden yellow. Fabulous rot-ennobled, high-toned aromas of apricot and honey. Wonderfully glyceral yet tangy on the palate, with a chewy quality and uncanny acid thrust to the creamy, honeyed flavors. Like an essence of botrytized fruit. The palate-staining finish goes on and on. This may ultimately be labeled Quintessence. Note that the Beyer wines routinely carry lower residual sugar at every level of the hierarchy than the overwhelming majority of Alsace wines. A wine labeled Quintessence elsewhere would be likely to have at least 250 to 300 grams of r.s. but this one has only 175. A masterpiece, but it would be a crime to drink it in its youth. 97(+?) 2007 Domaine Albert Mann Riesling Schlossberg Selection de Grains Noble L'Epicentre (made from a 1942 parcel in the center of this grand cru; the fruit was picked "in the style of an ice wine" on November 26, according to Barthelme) Pale, bright yellow. Reticent but pure and complex nose suggests lime, crushed stone and botanical herbs; conveys a distinct "cold fruit" character. Then incredibly pure, intense and penetrating, if still youthfully unevolved, with a powerful, three-dimensional impression of extract and a crystalline purity. The wine's stony, saline quality titillates the salivary glands. A real magic act: this is 10.5% alcohol, with 178 g/l r.s. and 5 grams of acidity, but from its sheer penetration on the palate I would have guessed 9 or 10 grams of acidity. This should develop more complexity over a period of decades. There are just 160 liters of this elixir, and not all the grapes were affected by noble rot. 97 2007 Hugel et Fils Gewurztraminer Selection de Grains Nobles ($193) Bright yellow-gold. Pungent, pristine aromas of citrus fruits, flowers and lichee; wonderfully elegant on the nose. Utterly brilliant in the mouth, with great purity and intensity to its yellow fruits and flowers, all sharpened by firm (7.7 grams per liter) acidity. A saline element and some honey in the background just add to the complexity of this essence of gewurztraminer. Wonderfully racy for a wine with 172 g/l r.s., and incredibly long on the aftertaste. It's premature to compare this to Hugel's epic 1976 Gewurztraminer SGN bottlings, but this wine may be even finer. 97(+?) 2007 Domaine Schoffit Pinot Gris Rangen Clos Saint Theobald Selection de Grains Nobles Larmes de Lave (4.9% alcohol, 510 g/l r.s. and 12.8 acidity; from a parcel at the top of the slope, harvested five days after the regular SGN with 100% botrytized berries) Bright yellow-gold. Racy but reticent aromas of fresh apricot, peach and pineapple, plus a whiff of bandaid. Pure honeyed, resiny botrytis in the mouth, with shocking acidity somehow giving lift and precision to this incredibly glyceral wine. Not far off in balance and style from Olivier Humbrecht's 2005 Trie Speciale from Rangen pinot gris. The explosive finish features a saline suggestion of soil and shocking lift. This is barely wine, and yet it's virtually impossible to spit. 96(+?) 2007 Domaine Albert Mann Pinot Gris Furstentum Le Tri (7% alcohol, 320 g/l r.s. and 11 grams acidity) Deep gold with orange highlights. High-toned, slightly eau de vie-like aromas of caramel, botanical herbs and honey, with a whiff of cognac; smells like a maturing Yquem. Pours as thick as an essencia, showing glyceral flavors of honey and quetsch and an almost painful sweetness. A thick and chewy monster that is somehow kept fresh by off-the-charts acidity. Today I marginally prefer the Altenbourg Tri for its lighter touch, but then the Furstentum probably needs 20 years to become wine. Both of these special selections aged on their lees in new Allier barrels. 96(+?) 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Goldert Selection de Grains Nobles (this was only racked in July following a long fermentation) Full gold. Musky, highly perfumed nose offers honey, flowers, smoke and marzipan; not as spicy as the Hengst SGN. Then thick and smooth, if not quite as chewy as the Hengst, with superb acidity leavening the impression of extract. With its rose petal, marzipan and building spiciness, and its strong acids, this comes off as almost magically light for SGN. Finishes with great purity and persistence. This was made in a new 600-liter cask, even though Humbrecht normally avoids using new wood for gewurztraminer. But there's little sign of oak here. 96-98 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht Pinot Gris Clos Jebsal Selection de Grains Nobles (9.5% alcohol, 227 g/l r.s.) Deep, bright yellow. Great purity and lift to the hugely botrytized aromas of honey, menthol, botanical herbs and mint. Silky on entry, then impossibly concentrated and glyceral in the mid-palate; as chewy as a solid but with exhilarating lift making this impossible to spit. An incredible, endless and utterly unevolved wine that currently shows more structure than fruit. Tastes even sweeter on the back end than its 227 g/l residual sugar would indicate, as there is no sign of alcohol. I'd sock this away for a good 10 to 15 years. 96(+?) 2007 Domaine Albert Mann Muscat Altenbourg "Le Tri" (10.5% alcohol, 177 g/l r.s., 4.9 grams acidity) Good pale yellow. Lovely tangy botrytis lift to the aromas of honey, ginseng, caramel, flowers, medicinal herbs and Oriental spices. Fat, lush and dense, with supersweet yet almost magically fresh flavors of crystallized peach, honey and spices complemented by red berry hints of raspberry and strawberry; tastes like crushed grapes. The impression of brisk acidity here is far stronger than the actual number, giving this an exhilarating sugar/acid balance. Finishes with a palate-staining whiplash of flavor. I'm not sure I would have identified this nectar as muscat. 96 2007 Domaine Ostertag Gewurztraminer Fronholz Selection de Grains Nobles (10% alcohol, 290 g/l r.s. and 5.4 acidity) Pale gold.