NYTimes: Asimov On Alsace

Asimov has a very good rant in today's NYTimes railing against the increasing use of r.s. in Alsaatian wines and their becoming less food friendly because of it. When I first started drinking Alsatian wines, you could always count on them being dry and going well w/ your weenies & kraut.
He misses one point on why this trend has taken place: The big scores given to the Z-H wines back in the '80's by critics because of their richer/riper character, often w/ r.s. which has caused more & more wineries to adopt this style.
So sad what's happened to Alsatian wines.

NYTimes: Asimov On Alsace

Tom

Tom, I have not read the article yet but I have noticed how styles(?) have changed in Alsace. I am finding too much residual sugar in quite a few wines. In fact, on a recent Pinot Gris thread here, many were pushed to find a drier style of pinot gris!!

Global warming ?

OK. I'll rant too.

I'm not so ready to attribute an Alsatian style change to the strength of media reviews of Z-H wines. I see a similar vintage and sweetness-level pattern echoeing in much of Germany, where increased proportion of sweeter table wine seems to be released here in the states. For example, I mourn that today's Kabinett typically no longer resembles its ancestor of even fifteen or twenty years ago. I do miss it so.

I've also seen a consistent proportion of Z-H dry wine in past twenty years, though for the past two release years I am a bit blind, so if this is the basis of Asimov's rant, so be it.

Admittedly, for me even the Z-H drier examples still completely stick out in tastings, sometimes not in a good way for me either. That house releases a unique (and occasionally) bizarre example of Alsace wine for my palate. I picture the Z-H house style as sort of an enormous pine tree amongst the alders when viewed against other top producers. In terms of color, alcohol and concentration, I'm often not a big fan of Z-H table wines, but I've had many stellar examples of the Very Tardy ones.

So yes, I agree there's more Alsatian sweet wine available around here too, sadly, even from my man, Mann.

What kills me is the Z-H sweetness rating: The label has a number between 1 and 5. It's up to you to figure out that "1" is driest and "5" is sweetest. What is it with these guys? I still see some German wines labeled "classic," which is supposed to mean "dry." I don't even see "trocken" used all that often. At least "trocken" has a meaning that you can look up...

It's up to you to figure out that "1" is driest and "5" is sweetest...

Hence the importance of a good wine merchant.

Are you trying to run all the humans out of business!

Yes, I have often been put off by sugar in Alsace, especially Gewürtztraminer.

I mean, we're not talking about late harvest wines here!

This is ultimately a big problem for Alsace.

If consumers don't know if the wine they've bought is bon dry or semi-sweet, than many of them are going to avoid Alsace altogether.

Best regards,
Alex R.

Though I haven't tasted lots of Alsatian producers I find that at least a couple are reliably dry. Trimbach makes their wines in a dry style for the most part, and the wines made by Marc Kreydenweiss are quite dry, though his wines are somewhat hard to find in the U.S. I am disappointed with the direction that Z-H has gone in, but non-wine geeks love that stuff. I find it enjoyable, but uninteresting.

I remember hearing from merchants in L.A. area that the "1/2/3/4/5" notation on Z-H bottlings was used to identify relative sugar content for the must, prior to fermentation (I assumed, at best a relative gauge of must weight). As a retail buyer, I didn't rely much on those numbers as a reliable indicator of post fermentation sugar levels of the finished wine.

Has anyone seen or heard information (regarding this nomenclature) directly from the winemaking team at Z-H itself ?

I remember hearing from merchants in L.A. area that the "1/2/3/4/5" notation on Z-H bottlings was used to identify relative sugar content for the must, prior to fermentation (I assumed, at best a relative gauge of must weight). As a retail buyer, I didn't rely much on those numbers as a reliable indicator of post fermentation sugar levels of the finished wine.
Has anyone seen or heard information (regarding this nomenclature) directly from the winemaking team at Z-H itself ?

Jeff,
I'm pretty certain, from a number of sources but none that I can sight immediately off the top of me head, that the sweetness index
is not referring to must content, but how sweet the wine tastes on the palate; which is, of course, a function of the r.s and
the acidity level.
Tom

They may not be a match for traditional Alsace meals, but I sure like ZH GWTs with spicy Thai food.

Though I haven't tasted lots of Alsatian producers I find that at least a couple are reliably dry. Trimbach makes their wines in a dry style for the most part, and the wines made by Marc Kreydenweiss are quite dry, though his wines are somewhat hard to find in the U.S. I am disappointed with the direction that Z-H has gone in, but non-wine geeks love that stuff. I find it enjoyable, but uninteresting.

Sam,
Kreydenweiss is also one of my favorite more traditional producers as well. Tough to find sometimes.
I think it's mostly the wine geeks who love the stuff. Much of it being driven by the high scores the wines receive from reviewers.
I actually find the Z-H rather interesting bit not too enjoyable, except in small amounts. They have many of the things certain wine geeks
thrive on: intensity, extraction, gobs of hedonistic fruit, alcohol, texture & body, softness... all the things you get in a high scoring wine. But I'm not interested in spending $30-$100/btl for a GWT to go with my weenies & kraut.
Tom

They may not be a match for traditional Alsace meals, but I sure like ZH GWTs with spicy Thai food.

Interesting observation, Dan. And quite correct in my opinion. They are a good match.
But some of the wine styles in Europe have evolved over the yrs because the wine is made to go along w/ the local cuisine. The traditional Alsatian style was high acidity to cut thru the high fat content of many of their dishes. Maybe there has been a plethora of Thai restaurants surfacing in Riquewihr over the yrs so that the new style is appropriate?? Who knows.
Tom

It's up to you to figure out that "1" is driest and "5" is sweetest...

Hence the importance of a good wine merchant.

Are you trying to run all the humans out of business!

Preaching to the choir, Rahsaan. I don't know about you, but my job is already hard enough ("Can you tell me the carbon footprint of this wine?") without having to also explain what Zind-Humbrecht could easily explain on their own, if they had a lick of sense.

They may not be a match for traditional Alsace meals, but I sure like ZH GWTs with spicy Thai food.

I can't say I've had a ZH Gewurz, but I've had some great experiences matching their Rieslings and Pinot Gris with Indian, Lebanese and Thai food. While I like the more traditional dry styles as well, I've found the sweeter wines to be fantastic when it comes to finding pairings for a range of cuisines. I don't mind a wider range of styles and more wines to pick from with some sweetness (as long as there are still plenty of good dry ones available out there) - my only issue with Alsace wines is that it's too hard to pick out which wines are sweet and which are dry without having extreme familiarity with producers and vintages (or reading the reviews carefully).

I found the article to be a balanced, matter of fact, honest portrait of a confusing situation. As someone who adores Z-H and other Alsace wines, I too have been frustrated by opaque labeling re: the sweetness factor.

RP has pointed out that sometimes perceived sweetness exceeds actual RS levels because of the intense fruity flavors (RP uses the term dry extract, whatever that means) in the wine. As these wines age, the apparent sweetness diminishes. Part of the perception problem is that people are wanting to drink these wines too young. Another factor may be flabby acidity causing an enhanced sensation of sweetness.

Because of the unpredictability of Alsace, I've found myself migrating more and more to Austria to fill my dry riesling need.

Because of the unpredictability of Alsace, I've found myself migrating more and more to Austria to fill my dry riesling need.

Good strategy! Although as I mentioned earlier, "trocken" on a German label really does mean dry, and there are some fine ones to be had. We've had good results recently with "Potate!" from organic fanatic Dirk Wurtz in the Rheinhessen. Clean, pure, dry, beautifully done by a "noninterventionist" winemaker. About $16.

Good strategy! Although as I mentioned earlier, "trocken" on a German label really does mean dry

No it doesn't.

I don't know if it varies by region but I believe it means there must be less than 9 g/l of r.s.

You can obviously taste that sugar.

Has anyone seen or heard information (regarding this nomenclature) directly from the winemaking team at Z-H itself ?

Jeff,
What I have heard, indirectly from Olivier Humbrecht, is that the indice is a measure of apparent sweetness, not a simple function of RS. As Tom said, it'll depend both on the residual sugar, the acidity and maybe some other factors that I'm unaware of. The idea is to assist you with food pairing: indices 1-2 are dry to off-dry, 3-4 off-dry to semi-sweet and 5 full-on sweet. The problem I have is seeing one on a restaurant wine list with no mention of the indice. Since Clos Windsbuhl can vary year-to-year from indices 2 to 5, you get back to square 1, not knowing what the hell to expect when the bottle's open.

Mark Lipton

Rahsaan wrote:
I don't know if it varies by region but I believe it means there must be less than 9 g/l of r.s.

You can obviously taste that sugar.

Not necessarily true, if your TA is at least 7 g/L or possible a little higher. I believe, to label a wine Trocken in Germany the RS can not exceed 9 g/L and the TA can not be less than 2 g/L than the RS (in g/L).

Salute

Not necessarily true, if your TA is at least 7 g/L or possible a little higher. I believe, to label a wine Trocken in Germany the RS can not exceed 9 g/L and the TA can not be less than 2 g/L than the RS (in g/L).

Salute

I didn't mean to imply that you can taste sugar in all German trockens.

Rather, that there is some r.s. in most and that it will be perceptible in some.