Fresh off a day of rest, post-Paris adventure, and an evening of settling into our gîte in Ammerschwir we arrive to Domaine Weinbach with keen palettes and stomachs lined with tart flambée... READY. Funny we should start a week of tasting hundreds of wines with one of our favorite wines of the entire trip. 2009 Muscat, Clos des Capucins. Heavy spicy & floral aromatics led to a full, dry, pallete of ginger & celery. "Great w/Asperges," Catherine tells us. I smile to myself realizing that she's probably right. Considering that many bodly testify that pairing wines with asparagus is nearly impossible, I can now say after being in Alsace during asparagus season and surrounded by muscat I have seen the golden-hued light. Muscat quickly became the one wine we were most eager to try at every estate (sylvaner, for me too). Pure Elegance. Everything at Domaine Weinbach was so pure and finessed, hard to not consider a result of the feminine touch. 100% estate grown fruit and soon to be Demeter certified bio-d, Colette, Catherine, and Laurence continue the unrelenting commitment to excellence established by late husband/father Théo. The expressive terroir of their grand crus is what gives these wines their power.
Schlossberg, the first classified grand cru in Alsace, is where riesling shines fully (southern) exposed on the steep slopes of granite/shale soil. 08 Riesling has great initial impact. Crystal clear purity & drive into salty/savory acidity.
It's youthful sweetness is in total harmony with the acidity, I'm looking forward to tasting this again in a few years. The Cuvée St. Catherine comes from 40-60 year old vines and is located on the middle of the slope. Lots more herbal/minty notes here. Gewürtztraminer. Grand Cru Furstentum is composed of limestone, clay, & sandstone. The Altembourg is mostly limestone with some clay. I love the acidity that these limestone soils create, perfect for gewürtz. In particular, Furstentum, creates a much spicier gerwürtz because of the sandstone. 2008 Altembourg Gewürtz is "spacious" yet precise. It creates space for itself, and then fills it. Huge minerality and fresh acidity. Pinot gris also does well here, less aromatics, but the weight is cut with that limestone acidity. Botrytis develops beautifully at gc Mambourg and is where the vt's and sgn's are born. 07 Gewürtz sgn has yellow pear all over the place with silky minerality and a hint of musk. "I'm ready for foie now..." my notes read.
Check out the pictures and you'll get the overal gist of this elegance I'm referring to, like i said... everything here is pretty. I even made one of my notorious 'wine model' poses.
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