Domaine Barmès Buecher (Alsace)

In Brief:

2005 Crémant d’Alsace $16

Sweetness is balanced with acidity and strong, brilliant carbonation. A refreshing drink, though with a yeasty nose.

Riesling Tradition '06 $16.5

Nice fruit on the nose with strong lemon and a surprising hint of overripe melon. Sweetness is supported by acidity. Interesting flavorless glycerine finish. Balanced and pleasant.

Rosenberg Silicis Pinot Gris '04 $24

Nose: equal parts subdued fruit and yeast, with a faint hint of citrus. Low acidity, but the sweetness is countered by notable bitterness that extends from midpalate to finish. Slight alcohol "spiciness" on the back of the throat. Well-balanced, but I am not enthused by the hops-like bitterness.

Herrenweg de Turckheim Gewurtzraminer '04 $20

Lychees!!! Spritz of lemon and orange rind. HUGE for a white wine - medium bodied with notable bitterness, the finish is full of glycerine, with more heat than any of the other three wines, and a hint of yeast. I'm still surprised how much like lychees this smelled.


Tasting Notes:

These four Alsace wines were tasted at the Princeton Corkscrew wine shop. The wine glasses were a bit on the thick-rimmed side, and I caught one whiff of heavy perfume, but otherwise, smelling conditions were superb, the atmosphere friendly (save yet another joke from the French guy about how he knows I'm 21). The proprietors/winemakers were present and answering questions, mostly in German and French.

All four wines were of similar mild sweetness, and all offset that sweetness in some way. The Crémant d'Alsace with acidity and carbonation, the Riesling with acidity, the Pinot Gris with bitterness, and the Gewurtzraminer with a combination of bitterness and viscous body. They were well-balanced wines with each element clearly discernable. The nose of each wine possessed at least two elements, though no single wine was very complex aromatically.

2005 Crémant d’Alsace $16

A brief whiff of fruit was quickly replaced with the smell of yeast, occasionally revealing hints of citrus. On the palate the carbonation was strong and brilliant. The sweetness was just balanced by the acidity. This wine was refreshing to drink, but I do not consider it in the same league as a Bordeaux or a Shiraz. It is like a very, very nice italian soda, though the yeast smell, for me, is a little off-putting.

Riesling Tradition '06 $16.5

There is considerable fruit on the nose - green grapes (a wine that smells like grapes? incroyable!) with strong lemon and a hint of a diametrically opposite smell - perhaps overripe canteloupe. Sweet with balancing acidity, the body was unremarkable on the midpalate. In the finish, where tannins would take hold in a red wine, the flavor suddenly vanishes, leaving a tasteless but faintly sweet and viscous feeling, slightly warmed by alcohol. I know glycerol is viscous, and I've read that it imparts a slight sweetness to wine, so I'm going to guess that this finish is mostly glycerol.

Rosenberg Silicis Pinot Gris '04 $24

The nose displayed equal parts subdued fruit and yeast, with a faint hint of citrus. The acidity was low, but the sweetness was countered by a notable bitterness that first makes itself felt in the midpalate then lingers through the finish. A slight alcoholic bite on the back of the throat gives the impression of "spiciness." I'm not a big fan of the bitterness, but I can see how many would consider this a "well-balanced" wine. The co-proprietor and wife of the winemaker named this as her favorite, citing smoke and earth in the nose, which I can't corroborate, but... it could be there.

Herrenweg de Turckheim Gewurtzraminer '04 $20

Lychees!!! The aroma is exactly like that of lychees, with a spritz of lemon rind, and something that suggested orange rind. On the palate, it was sweet like the others, almost medium-bodied (due to high glycerin concentration, perhaps?) with ripe melon and yeast on the midpalate. Again, bitterness made itself felt on the midpalate. The finish was bitter, with a little yeast, then faded into glycerol, with more alcohol "heat" than the Riesling.