2012 Domaine Bechtold Gewurztraminer Engelberg, France, Alsace, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2012
Score: 
88
Grade: 
B+

Light silvery gold in color.  There are a small amount of bubbles in the glass but they blew off quickly.  The nose is nice with lychees and minerals.  The palate is slightly sweet with a candied quality to it.  Like a hard candy with a sort of tropical fruit/citrus flavor.  It also has an interesting wheat note (think wheat beer).  Overall, drinking well but starting to show its age.  It depends on how you like these wines.  $34

2014 Zind-Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Turckheim, France, Alsace, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2014
Score: 
90
Grade: 
A-

Golden in color.  The nose is a bit musty with slight sugary notes.  With air it cleans a bit and shows lychees.  A different bottle opened a couple of days before also showed this mustiness and the thought of TCA was there.  Leaving it for two days, the wine cleaned up nicely, so that might be an issue with this bottling.  On the palate, a wonderful oily texture.  Some orange peel.  Turns slightly bitter on the finish.  Overall, this is a complex wine.  Quite food friendly.  It is a bit sweet but just a bit.  

NV Willm Brut Blanc de Blancs, France, Alsace, Wine Review

Score: 
88
Grade: 
B+

10% Gewurztraminer, 30% Pinot Blanc, 30% Pinot Gris, 30% Riesling.  This is made in the traditional method.  It does not appear to be labelled as Cremant.  Light silvery/yellow/white/gold in color.  Very pale.  A nice head of medium sized bubbles.  The nose is nice with a bit of seltzer and slight lemon.  On the palate, this has slight lime peel with some juniper berry (Gin) and other herbals.  Not a lot of depth but very refreshing.  Slightly short on the finish.  This is easy drinking sparkling wine.  Dry and very food friendly.  At $16, this is a nice value.  

2016 Albert Mann Gewurztraminer, France, Alsace, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2016
Score: 
89
Grade: 
B+

This was a very good value and is drinking very well.  Around $20.  Light golden in color.  The nose is more restrained with nice lychees, peaches and minerality.  On the palate, this is slightly viscous and slightly sweet.  None of the bitter almond that sometimes shows up in Gewurztraminer.  Peaches and minerals.  Best when not served to cold.  Perhaps around $60F.  The wine gets more expressive and rounder.  Worked with a wide variety of foods.  This is a bit more restrained than many of the other Gewurztraminers in this price range which is probably a good thing.  It works more as a tot

2016 Willm Gewurztraminer Reserve, France, Alsace, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2016
Score: 
88
Grade: 
B+

Light gold in color.  The nose is nice if a bit reserved.  Lychees with slight peach.  On the palate, this is mostly dry with just a hint of sweetness.  More like a perception than actual sweetness.  Peaches.  Refreshing.  Nice balance.  This is a very food friendly wine.  Easy to drink.  Good value at around $20.  No bitterness.  Drinking well right now, I don't think it improves.  

2009 Trimbach Riesling Alsace Grand Cru Geisberg, France, Alsace, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2009
Score: 
93
Grade: 
A

This is the first vintage that Trimbach made a wine from this vineyard.  Light golden in color.  Great nose.  There is a bit of orange peel along with minerals and a salinity on the nose.  It is big right from the start.  The palate takes a bit of air to get going.  A relatively viscous texture.  The wine is dry.  Tight peaches eventually show more expressive peach along with minerals (crushed limestone).  There is some warmth on the wine.  Nevertheless, it worked great with food especially a Goat Cheese Tart (superb).  Still young, it is drinking well now, but should continue to improve fo

2016 Lucien Albrecht Gewurztraminer Reserve, France, Alsace, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2016
Score: 
88
Grade: 
B+

Light golden in color with some green hues swirling about.  A very nice nose with lychee nuts, slight peaches and almonds.  On the palate, this has a slight bitterness that is often found in Gewurztraminer.  It is medium sweet which is also what the indice on the back label indicates.  The palate has slight peach with nice minerality.  Slightly viscous.  Consumed over two days, it was better on day 2 with the bitterness receding and the wine coming together.  Reasonably food friendly with lighter foods though would also work well with heavier spiced foods such as Indian or Thai.  It probabl

2004 Luneau-Papin / Domaine Pierre de la Grange Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Sur Lie Le "L" d'Or, France, Loire Valley, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2004
Score: 
92
Grade: 
A-

A great example of one of the top Muscadets.  This cost $15 on release and a recent vintage is not much more.  Its been aged for 14 years and it was wonderful.  Still fresh, crisp and enjoyable.  Golden in color.  The nose is great.  Complex with sea air, sea shells and slight honey notes.  On the palate, this is laser precision minerals.  Slightly oily texture.  Some salinity.  For those who prefer oysters, this is the perfect match but works with other food as well.  Long finish.  Just a gorgeous $15 bottle of wine.  

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