Presenter: Geoff Cullen	January 2014 minutes:
Wines	Region	Country	Source	Cost	Comments	Type
1. Domaine Rieffel 2011 Runz Pinot Noir, Mittlebergheim, Bas-Rhin,	Alsace	France	Cellar Door	£12.50	12% Sweet, floral nose, slightly smoky with a cherry-menthol aspect. Very thin attack, dry oak but fills out a little on the mid-palate. Pleasant, light finish with a bizarre heat at the end. Tannic edges and a touch hollow.
2. Kientzler 2010 Kirchberg GC Muscat, Ribeauvillé, Haut-Rhin,	Alsace	France	Cellar Door	£18	13%  Creamy nose with a mineral edge and a hint of lychee. Very dry on the mid-palate; grippy, almost tannic acidity with a lemon/lime finish. A very good, structured wine.
3. Domaine Rieffel 2008 Kirchberg de Barr GC Pinot Gris, Mittlebergheim, Bas-Rhin,	Alsace	France	Cellar Door	£18	14.5% Golden colour with a deep, oily nose. Fresh on the palate, drying as the mid-palate ends and with a glycerol coating on the finish. A hint of age in with the richness, rich but fresh. A lovely, subtle bittern finish. The nose develops a toffee component in the glass.
4. Domaine Marcel Diess 2002 Altenberg de Bergheim GC Riesling, Bergheim, Haut-Rhin,	Alsace	France	Cellar Door	£38	13% Golden colour with an old-Riesling nose; smoky, woody. Sweet attack then initially light on the mid-palate before filling out with a long, honeyed finish. A wood-smoke mid-palate.
5. Domaine Albert Boxler 2011 Sommerberg GC Riesling, Niedermorschwihr, Haut-Rhin,	Alsace	France	Cellar Door	£45	13.5% Spritzy attack with a delicate, lightly floral nose – almost perfumed. Clean & fresh with a lime mid-palate, good complexity and an almost austere, citrusy dryness.
6. Maison Léon Beyer 2005 Comtes d'Eguisheim Gewurztraminer, Eguisheim, Haut-Rhin,	Alsace	France	Cellar Door	£26	13.5% Typical Gewürztraminer nose, lychees and syrup leading to expectations of richness. In the mouth the lychee is still there but it’s lean in flavour and medium dryness with a delicate finish. A very good wine, although the nose suggest a much richer, sweeter wine than the palate delivers.
7. Domaine Trimbach 2007 Gewurztraminer Vendages Tardives, Ribeauvillé, Haut-Rhin,	Alsace	France	Cellar Door	£33	13.5% Sweet, floral nose with a lot of weight. Sweet attack with good complexity and structure with some Turkish Delight on the finish. The sweetness is on the cusp of overpowering the acidity and there’s no variation from attack to mid-palate and finish, so it comes across as a little one dimensional.
8. Domaine Bott Frères 2007 Muscat Selection de Grains Nobles, Ribeauvillé, Haut-Rhin,	Alsace	France	Cellar Door	£30	13% Perfect acidity for the luscious sweetness, great integration. A peachy-peach wine – rich & complex.
15/01/2014	Raffle wine: Kuhlmann-Platz 2012 Pinot Gris Cuvée Prestige Won by: Elaine Orrick

Alsace:

Alsace is long and thin, stretching 115 miles down the east side of the Vosges mountains between the Rhine, and Germany’s Baden region on the other side of the river. At 25 miles wide the vineyards are on the lower east and south-easterly slopes.

 

Alsace wine is produced mostly from white grapes and there’s a strong Germanic feel to the region and the wines – the only ones in France under AOC allowed to label by varietal.

Alsace dry Riesling vies with Germany and Austria for quality and Gewürztraminer in all styles is synonymous with the region.

 

The region is split into 2 administrative departements;

• The northern Bas-Rhin ('Lower Rhine') is home to 13 of Alsace's 51 Grand Cru site

• The southern Haut-Rhin ('Upper Rhine') is home to 38 of Alsace's 51 Grand Cru sites.

The names have no direct meaning in wine labelling, but there are terroir differences between the 2 that can translate into the wines – the Haut-Rhin has more hill slopes where the Grand Cru vineyards dominate while the Bas-Rhin is lower and flatter.