Saturday, October 25, 2008

2001 Marcel Deiss, "Altenberg de Bergheim", Alsace

(Glass; Zalto Universal)

It’s rare that I come across a wine of this character and it’s even rarer, that I find myself in conflict of the simple question – do I like this wine? The ravishing sherry colour tells you that it’s not your everyday bonanza wine in the glass, but the work biodynamic wild man number one; Marcel Deiss. The nose is incredible wild – super complex with notes of, apricot, rubber, smoke, mild botrytis, flowers, caramel, oxidized sherry notes and even malt. But to twist things a bit, and what at first hand seemed to be an opulent wine, it’s really not. Here on day two the wine shows incredible freshness and I would even go as far as calling it elegant. The taste is a little bit dominated by the viscosity of the wine as it hides the mineral snap and acidity. But it’s not heavy at all to drink and really has a subtle feeling. The bad thing about the taste is the fact that you simply end of with too much chewing on the flavours instead of a mouth cleansing feeling. The dilemma is the style and the sweetness of the wine, which causes it, to be a little bit too silky for my palate. But what a nose – wow.
26/10-2008

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