96-97p/eRobertParker: "Picked already September 16 in the Schneckelsburg,
just above the Clos Jebsal, and allowed to stop fermenting at 13% alcohol
and a supportive but barely noticeable 20 grams of residual sugar.
A stunning, haunting nose of rowan, linden, iris, licorice, resin, white
peach, and sea breeze foreshadows the elusive complexities of a palate
combining sumptuous richness and subtle oiliness with lift and refreshment.
This finishes almost torrentially, with salt, iodine, and
peat staining its waves of fruit and nut oils, while floral
perfume billows persistently overhead. Get lost in it as soon
as you can lay hands on a bottle and for the next several years.
Then lose some in your cellar for two decades or more."
öAfter the experience of 2003,ö remarks Olivier Humbrecht with an eye to his 2007s,
ôIÆm never going to complain about having and extra gram or two of acidity.ö
In fact, Humbrecht considers 2007 ideal in nearly every respect, having permitted
the grower the luxury of picking under optimum conditions for each grape variety
and style. The fruit was completely healthy, insists Humbrecht,
ôyou could walk through the vineyards for half an hour and fine one
spoiled berry,ö à except, of course, where the rot was noble! This yearÆs
generally dry-tasting, relatively low-alcohol, high acid, high-extract
Rieslings are not always the most youthfully approachable or winsome in
style, but the best are profound; whereas Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer
ran to extremities of potential alcohol, even though the harvest was
finished before mid-October. Far fewer wines went through malo-lactic
transformation here from 2007 than usual û
the pHs were often so low they proved inhospitable to the necessary bacteria".
