La Goutte D'Or Crepy 2009 Savoie

La Goutte D'Or Crepy 2009 is a white wine made using the Chasselas grape.
Crepy is a named cru of the  Vin de Savoie appellation, covering three communes immediately north-east of Geneva in the Savoie region of eastern  France. Crepy wines are white and are made predominantly from the Chasselas grape . 1948 until 2009 Crepy had its own appelation, but then its growers collectively agreed that their wines were best marketed under the Vin de Savoie title. Their main argument was that Crepy lacked a geographical context, as it was not named after a village or area.
This is a pale lemon in colour with floral aromas along with pear drop and pastry mixed in, on tasting it it had freshning acidity, low alcohol and minerality streaks on top of green apple and citrus.
A light wine that could support food happily due to its clean dry freshness.
It is worth comparing to the Alsace Chasselas that was further down the blog Pierre Frick 2009. You will see that it was much more stone fruits but still floral with a touch of melon - this of course is due to the warmer region.

Domaine Paul Blanck Pinot Noir 2009 in Alsace France

Domaine Paul Blanck Pinot Noir 2009 is a wine from Alsace in Eastern France, where white grapes account for 90% of the grapes grown, and this as alot of you will know is a Black grape - Pinot Noir. It is a thin skinned variety that is difficult to grow anywhere, here it is dry and warm so should have less of the problems associated with the marginal area Burgundy where it is the typical black grape grown that is the only one that can be used to make red Burgundy.  Domaine Paul Blanck is situated in Kientzheim, a beautiful, mediaeval village in Alsace and the family have owned vineyards here for generations. This wine is supplied by Waitrose at a price of £14.24.
This wine is medium intense ruby with black tints, this is denser than I expected, the rim is wide - a hint that this may be a young wine. Subtle aromas of ripe baked fruit along with a slight vegetal edge evolve, but I would not recognise this as Pinot Noir by the nose, but this was a hot year...... maybe the fruit was very ripe and has so got a baked character.
In the mouth it lacks structure and character, it feels thin, the baked character of the wine repeats itself on the palate and very little else, low ripe tannins with a slight chalkiness and the length though average, has a bitter finish, the fruit is restrained and a touch nervy whereas the acidity is tight and underwrites this wines longevity..
For me this is a wine best served very slightly chilled with a meal.

Domaines Schlumberger Grand Cru Kessler Gewurztraminer 2005 in Alsace France

Domaines Schlumberger Grand Cru Kessler Gewurztraminer 2005 is from a single Grand Cru vineyard in Guebwiller in Alsace which is in Eastern France near the border of Germany. This wine came from Slurp and cost £18.35 and as is more common in Alsace due to its weather ( warm autumns and low rainfall due to the vosges mountains) the vineyard is run biodynamically and Domaines Schlumberger is one of the largest vineayard owners  in Alsace. This wine has won awards and indeed in Decanter November 2009  it was a 5star Decanter Award Winner and also a silver award in the 100+ Alsace Grand Cru wines tested.

This wine has a characteristic deepish gold colour - the grape Gewurztraminer often has quite a deep gold colour. Floral, deeply perfumed aromas of elderflower and roses promise what is to come, aromatics  also include grape and lychee. Once tasted the aromas are carried through to the palate with additional white stone fruits, the acidity is no higher than medium, again normal for this grape variety, the alcohol is warming but balanced. The wine feels silky in the mouth and the length is good, spicy to the end with roses, citric waves and stone fruits layered and complex with a lovely bitter, dry finish.
This is a wine is full and lush with amazing vivacity considering its age - but the pedigree says it all.

Riesling Kappelweg Vendange Tardive 2000 by Rolly Gassmann

Riesling Kappelweg Vendange Tardive 2000 by Rolly Gassmann is supplied by The Wine Society priced at £35, it is a late harvest wine ( denoted by the Vendange Tardive) and can only be one of Alsace's 'nobel grape varieties' by their wine laws, these are Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris and Muscat. The grapes are only harvested when they have fully ripened and more - and have started to dehydrate and shrivel on the vines so concentrating the flavours within the grape and so in the resultant wine. The grape has a high percentage of sugar and so the wine is often sweet as it cannot convert all the contained sugar to alcohol because the yeast cannot operate effectively at high sugar concentrations. This whole process is called 'passerillage' and was first introduced in France by the Alsace region and was first described as Vendange Tardive by Hugel in 1976. There is another higher sugar concentrated wine called Selecion de Grains Nobles and this has to have been infected by Botrytis ( the same nobel rot that affects grapes used to make Sauternes in Bordeaux and Trockenbeerenauslese in Germany ). The basic rule declares what minimium sugar level is needed in the grapes at harvest to reach these 2 levels of sweetness, it is higher for Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris than for Riesling and Muscat.
This wine has more colour than most rieslings due to its increased age and also the concentration of flavours and sugars it contains, the legs are slow to form and then fat - this tells me that the wine has increased viscosity, due to either alchol or sugar. On the nose we are treated to aromas of baked apples and pears, yeasty tertiary notes and a little mushroom, it also has a streak of minerality running around it.
On the mouth - Wow, silky texture, great acidity balancing the succulent sweetness backed up by baked stone fruits, sugary apple, all concentrated and honeyed. The length is good and clean, with a baked apple finish, and yes there is minerality, great structure and lots of clever fruit sugars, but the acidity, the freshness of this wine comes through - and it is at this point 12 years old - beautiful!

Alsace Riesling 2011 M&S Cave de Turkheim

Alsace Riesling 2011 made for  M&S by the Cave de Turkheim is a very well priced wine at £8.99, and on tasting it I was a little let down by its quality, it feels a little flat or lacking in concentration of flavours, it is dry with medium acidity, flavours of lemon, apple and a little minerality are apparent,  echoed from the aromas which again are not intense. The length is not long and has a dry finish.  Overall I feel deflated, this could have been a concentrated riesling with zing and polish, but maybe due to high yields or poor vineyard care or even lack of care in the making - this comes over as a generic wine with little to offer - what a shame. It is young - but will it gain in complexity - we will have to wait and see, maybe this could be its saviour.

Grand Cru Brand Pinot Gris Cave de Turkheim Alsace France 2008

Grand Cru Brand Pinot Gris 2008 is a wine made by Cave de Turkheim using the Pinot Gris grape which as expected is situated in Turkheim, a lovely village with some great restaurants and friendly people. We visited the Turkheim in October 2009 when they were just finishing the harvest and the smell of fermentation filled the air in many of the villages of the region.
Michel Lihrmann has been their senior winemaker for over 25 years and produces some high quality wines which are exported all over the world and have a good reputation. Grand Cru defines the vineyard (by local regualtion and is strictly defined and registered by law allied to production methods of the highest standards ) as having a very special “terroir” and the resulting wine should reflect the finest attributes of the grape variety Brand is such a vineyard.
The wine is pale gold and with quite intense aromas of cooked pears, caramel and honey with  overriding floral notes - it invites you to sip!
There is some sweetness to the wine, residual fruit sugar which implies honey but overall it is off dry, good acidic backbone balancing the alcohol which is well integrated ( 13.5%) and flavours of pear, cooked apple, tropical fruits with some sweet spice mixed in. The length is good, with a dry, clean finish.  Overall my thoughts on this wine are that it is a well made rich, crisp wine with a silky texture that works with many dishes from Thai, chicken and fruit puddings - Enjoy!
Supplied by Slurp at a price of £16.60, not bad value for such a beautiful wine.

Zind by Domaine Zind-Humbrecht 2008 in Alsace, France

Domaine Zind-Humbrecht 2008 makes Zind which is a blend of 2/3rds Chardonnay and then a mix of Auxerrois and  Pinot Blanc with the grapes coming from the Windsbuhl which is a terraced limestone and clay site, it is partially fermented and aged in a large new oak cask (82hl).

Clean apple aromas are restrained and had a slight smokey mushroom edge. On the mouth there was an initial spritz which disappeared quickly, the dry concentrated elegant but high acidity frames the fruit which is zesty apple and citric pithyness, the body is medium but enlivened by the zippy acidity. The overall texture is quite rich and solid - not a light fresh wine - this has structure and definition and has an international prescence. The oak plays its part in the formation of this wines character.
Supplied by Waitose at a price of £16.14.

Charles Schleret Muscat d'Alsace 2004 from Alsace in France

Charles Schleret  is based in the delightful village of Turckheim just west of Colmar on the river Fecht  and the Muscat d'Alsace 2004 is pale gold and has grapey aromas underpinned by elderflower and floral notes, on the mouth this is a dry wine with lively acidity which supports the fruit after a yeasty start, the fruit moves from apricot to ripe red apples and grape flavours interwoven, the finish is dry and stays soft, fresh and fruity to the end - which in a wine that is 8 years old was not expected! With age, a wine like this can take on waxy character and lose its fruit expression.
The wine is made from hand harvested grapes, picked when fully ripe, destemmed, pressed and vinified in an inert fermentation tank ( does not pick up any flavour or character from this), then filtered and bottled the following spring.
Yapp brothers £14.25

Domaine Josmeyer Pinot Blanc 2009 Alsace, France

Domaine Josmeyer was founded in 1854 by Aloyse Meyer, whose grandson Jean Meyer now manages the domaine. Situated in the village of Wintzenheim, just west of Colmar, the domaine has 25 hectares of vineyards scattered across nearby villages. Pinot Blanc is often thought of as the Alsace workhorse, but if the yields are restricted and the winemaking careful - can produce a full bodied concentrated wine.
Alsace is a dry region of France due to its location and protection from the Vosges mountains, it also often has long warm autumns, these two factors mean that cultivating without the use of many chemicals is not as difficult as in some marginal regions of France where there is a higher rainfall and less late-season sun! Biodynamic production is also very popular here, and this is grown under these conditions, they respect the earth and have visibly watched their vineyard health improve by eliminating agrochemicals.
This wine has a good depth of colour - gold/lemon with aromatics are of apricot through to gala apples with a hint of pear drops and yeast. The first taste indicates some residual fruit sugar and a slight spritz - but the finish is dry, the frisky acidity balances the sweet start and the flavours of ripe red apples and apricots has a crushed apple finish that is crisp, clean and dry to the end.
Suppliers of this wine are Berry Bros and Rudd at a price of £14.95.

Leon Beyer Sylvaner 2010 from Alsace, France

Leon Beyer Sylvaner 2010 from Eguisheim in Alsace  is a wine that is once more varietally labelled coming from Alsace, the grape Sylvaner is not one of the Alsace 'noble' grapes - which are Riesling, Muscat, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris - but if treated properly can be perfumed, and fresh. The Beyer family have been making wine in Eguisheim since 1580. They pick the grapes  fully ripe,  ferment at high temperatures often in large oak foudres to dryness .
This has less on the nose than the Chasselas which was tasted previous to this, but aromas of apricots, yeast and a streak of minerality hint at a crisp clean wine. On tasting it the noticeable acidity freshens the fruit which is green apple, apricot and a yeasty finish with lashings of minerality - wet stone flavours!
The finish is dry - again what is expected of an Alsation wine, and it is clean, crisp and fresh throughout - maybe a little linear in its appeal.
Supplied by the Wine Society at a good price of £7.95, a great fresh and zippy wine at the price!

Domaine Pierre Frick Chasselas 2009, Alsace France

Domaine Pierre Frick Chasselas 2009 a wine from Alsace in France and unlike many French wines it shows the grape variety - this is quite typical in this region of east France. The wine wass supplied by Caves de Pyrene at a cost of £10.50. This Cave supplies alot of Natural wines and called Vin Naturel which are often organic. Alsace is a dry region of France due to its location and protection from the Vosges mountains, it also often has long warm autumns, these two factors mean that cultivating without the use of many chemicals is not as difficult as in some marginal regions of France where ther is higher rainfall and less late season sun! Biodynamic production is also very popular here, and this is grown under these conditions, in addition no sulphur is used.
Generally alot of the terminology used in Alsace is Germanic, and when examining the history of the region you can see at various points Alsace has been under German rule, and even now the wines are considered to be German with a French twist, or put another way - sweet with a dry finish! 90% of the grapes are white grapes and produce 90% white wine of which about 70% is still white, and the remaining 20% is sparking Cremant.
Chasselas ( pronounced Chass -la) is a grape that is believed to be Swiss in origin but now also grown in France ( Alsace and Loire) as well as Portugal, New Zealand, Germany and Hungary.
The wine is medium gold in colour and when swirled no legs are apparent. Wow is it aromatic - volatile grape and apricot aromas as well as florality, touch of galia melon and slightly cidery appley - and it draws you in.
This is a fresh wine with keen acidity and great fruit expression including green and ripe red apples and apricots followed by a yeasty finish, It is vivacious and fresh - a lovely wine to have as an aperitif! The highly reputable Caves de Pyrene are the suppliers of this wine at £10.50.