Mature Alsace VTs & SQNs 2003-1976 with Richard Brazier

Richard Brazier of Ancient & Modern Wines ( http://www.ancientandmodernwines.co.uk ) presented this often overlooked area.

Not an easy tasting to organise and source wines, wines that are not everyone's choice and for sure very difficult to rate. Interestingly people left quite a bit in their glasses on the first taste so all had wine to revisit at the end and draw further comparisons and discussion. A great tasting!

• 2000 Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Clos Windsbuhl Vendange Tardive 93 Points

  France, Alsace

  Gold, glossy in colour. Ripe fruit, good level of residual sugar, good weight of fruit, apricots, honey. Light sharp edge on the mid palate, good acidity, almost no "petrolly" Riesling side at all and this could actually be an SQN level of sweetness. A bit one dimensional at this stage especially on the finish but no one can deny this is a great wine with lots of future ahead of it. Very much a decadent sweet wine. 92-93

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• 1989 Trimbach Riesling Sélection de Grains Nobles 'Fut 27' 92 Points

  France, Alsace

  Golden glossy and the colour (and also the palate) does not show the age at all. very much identical in colour with the 2000 Zind Humbrecht Clos Windsbuhl VT (Papies 92-93) we had side by side.
  Fresh and alive still, very much a youngster, very well made, lightest touch of a "petrolly" side, not a sticky SQN at all and have very good acidity that keeps the wine in lovely harmony. very good and with lots of life ahead. Nicol 91 / Andreas 93+

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• 2000 Trimbach Pinot Gris Vendanges Tardives 88 Points

  France, Alsace

  young and rich, with a bitter edge, light floral, honey, apricot, light toffee too. Nice but not impressive, good acidity. Young and at times difficult. 88

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• 1989 Domaines Schlumberger Pinot Gris Cuvée Clarisse Sélection de Grains Nobles 86 Points

  France, Alsace

  Colour shows its age, caramel, less glossy. Bitter toffee feel, almost difficult to enjoy, feels over extracted or over barrelled, to toasted at times. Viscous too. Not really a nice wine. 86

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• 1976 Hugel Tokay Pinot Gris Sélection de Grains Nobles 91 Points

  France, Alsace

  Showed a lot worse (may the comparison with the other wines in the line up) than the last few times we tried it. Colour is still very bright and glossy and this has a lot of life in it. Light spice, well balanced wine, very healthy , good acidity, ripe melon notes. There is nothing to fault here just not very exciting. A very good 91 this time round
  
  Interesting Fact is that this was the first Pinot Gris SQN they did since 1865!

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• 2003 Hugel Gewurztraminer Vendange Tardive 91 Points

  France, Alsace

  Bright and fresh, light honey feel which dominates at this stage. very nice on the nose with an undertone of lychee and indeed has an exotic fruit side to it. Well balanced and enjoyable even at this "young" age and definitely has a long future ahead. Nicol 90 / Andreas 92 > 91

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• 2000 Léon Beyer Gewurztraminer Vendanges Tardives 87 Points

  France, Alsace

  A lot more evolved than expected, light raisiny feel, very ripe and a bit one dimensional. Not big fans of this. 87

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• 1996 Domaines Schlumberger Gewurztraminer Vendanges Tardives Cuvée Christine 89 Points

  France, Alsace

  Light caramel notes on the colour show the age of the wine. Nice on the nose albeit shy , sweet fruit, apricots, well evolved and we felt this was passed secondary for a sweet wine. Has good acidity though. Nice wine but a touch one dimensional. 89-90

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• 1990 Domaines Schlumberger Gewurztraminer Vendanges Tardives Cuvée Christine

  France, Alsace

  We are not sure if the bottle was right here , not flawed but maybe it was a bit heavy handled during its life.
  Floral undertone , caramel feel, maybe overwooded? a bit of a saline feel on the finish too. Silky and rich but also difficult and not sure if its a bottle or wine issue. if the wine was as it should be this would be an 87 but we shall refrain from rating this time.

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• 1998 Léon Beyer Gewurztraminer Sélection de Grains Nobles 92 Points

  France, Alsace

  Gold colour and glossy still. Bright wine, good weight , floral edge, light toffee at times, rich and silky, light exotic side too. No rough edges here and still very early in its drinking window. Very solid and enjoyable. Long finish. 92

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• 1983 Léon Beyer Gewurztraminer Quintessence Sélection de Grains Nobles

  France, Alsace

  Made only 3 times so far ( 83,98,05)
  Darker in colour, concentrated and with a caramel feel. Rich and dense as expected, layered wine with proper depth. Candied fruit. This is a full on rich and decadent dessert wine. If one approaches it as such for sure they would love it. Split the Papies in 2 with a range of score of Nicol 88 and Andreas 93 as one of us found it too dense and over done while the other appreciated that side. Not sure who we can get to an average score here...

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