Let Me Save You the Trouble…

I might just have to throw in the towel when it comes to Alsace. The first tasting, I went into thinking it would be great. It was far from it. The second, I was a little more jaded but still hopeful.  However, we tasted a whopping nine wines, and barely over a third of them were any good. (Side note: it was supposed to be a Grand Cru tasting, but only three of the wines actually were.) The winner of the evening was Kristin’s pick from the Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant: 2005 Domaine Roland Schmitt Pinot Gris. It was fresh and very pretty, quite floral (mostly jasmine), with honeydew and lemongrass. The 2006 Huber Bleger Gewurztraminer was also nice with its lychee, gardenia, and how it somehow reminded me of eating oysters on the halfshell, one of my favorite things.

But I need to share some advice with you, readers and drinkers. If you see any Domaine Zind Humbrecht on the shelves, PASS ON BY, at least the 2006 vintage. We tasted four wines from the producer: a 2006 Pinot Gris, 2005 Pinot d’Alsace, 2006 Riesling, and 2006 Gewurztraminer. Except for the second one, I disliked them intensely. The color was the first sign that something was off.  They each possessed a deep golden hue, which would normally relay sweetness, age, or barrel time.  Thanks to Nari, we knew to look for a little number in the bottom corner to indicate the level of sweetness, and these hinted that they were quite dry; however,  a couple seemed like they had almost been affected by botrytis. From mushy apples to soap to plastic to notes of oxidation, these wines put me in a bad mood.
Granted, I wasn’t feeling my usual chipper self to begin with, and I have had good wine from this producer in the past, but this tasting made me lose faith. The Domaine Schlumberger also failed to inspire confidence, as we had two bad ones last week and this one was only so-so.

I recall telling Nari I would much rather drink California wines made in the style of Alsace, like Gewurztraminer from Thomas Fogarty or Navarro.  So, unless someone else is buying, I won’t be having Alsatian wine until these bad memories fade.