It has been far too long since I recommended an Alsace wine here but this particular wine, tasted in a line-up of 2003s from the Faller harem after dozens and dozens of 2003 burgundies really stood out.
Over the years I have often been impressed by the wines of Colette Faller and her daughters Catherine and Laurence at Domaine Weinbach (www.domaineweinbach.com). See the results of the Great Riesling tasting, for instance. Their philosophy is to pick as late as possible, which in the heatwave vintage of 2003 seems to have resulted in some rather fat wines which suggest at the moment that they should be drunk relatively early.
But this particular Gewurz seemed wonderfully lively. It had all the lovely rose petal fragrance of true Gewurztraminer (as opposed to one made from over-cropped fruit perfumed with a bit of Muscat) but great depth and nerve as well – more nerve, it seemed to me, than the more expensive and richer Cuvée Théo Gewurz. I would drink this Réserve Personelle over the next two years.
Unlike last week’s wine, this one is (just) cheaper in the UK than the US. Justerini & Brooks have it in their current offer at just £135 a case in bond, which will work out at the equivalent of about £14.75, or about £27.67 a bottle. Meanwhile the cutprice store Sams’s Wines & Spirits of Chicago has a ‘pre-offer’ of it at $28.99 according to the admirably useful winesearcher.com.