WTN: Domaine Zind Humbrecht Pinot Gris 2005

Herreweg De Turckheim

Golden in the glass.

Intensely rich nose of apricot, honey, peach.

Thick and full in the mouth, honeyed, apricot, peach, a hint of grapefruit rind, very light acidity, caramel, intense and rich, concentrated, spicy, peppery, incredibly sweet.

A long, long finish with apricot, honey and very gentle acidity.

After a few hours, some botrytis notes are evident.

Wow.

Purchased at $41.95 (Canadian).

Thanks for the very good note, Bruce. Out of curiousity, was this an Indice 4 or what? What sorts of food would you think it would pair up with well?

-Michael

I am afraid I don't understand your question about Indice, Michael.

I paired the wine with a roast pork and it sort of worked.

Sorry! Since 2001, Olivier Humbrecht has printed a small Indice code on the labels of his wines to give consumers a sense of how sweet each wine is in terms of residual sugar. It starts at 1 for dry and goes up to 5 for intensely sweet. If you still have the bottle, you can search the label for the indice code.

Personally, I like the system, as it is often impossible to know from year to year what style a particular wine will be made in from a sweetness standpoint. With the Z-H system, at least I have some sense of what I am buying before I buy it. Of course, what Z-H might think is a 2 in sweetness probably has little in common with what a Trimbach might register, but I still find it useful.

-Michael

Sorry! Since 2001, Olivier Humbrecht has printed a small Indice code on the labels of his wines to give consumers a sense of how sweet each wine is in terms of residual sugar. It starts at 1 for dry and goes up to 5 for intensely sweet. If you still have the bottle, you can search the label for the indice code.

Personally, I like the system, as it is often impossible to know from year to year what style a particular wine will be made in from a sweetness standpoint. With the Z-H system, at least I have some sense of what I am buying before I buy it. Of course, what Z-H might think is a 2 in sweetness probably has little in common with what a Trimbach might register, but I still find it useful.

-Michael

Thanks for the info. I never knew that. Will be on the road for the next few days, but will check when I get home Friday.

Nice note Bruce. I had this wine recently - after seeing David Schildknecht's review of it, I ended up buying it in half-bottle as he said it was pretty much a small VT.

Had a few months back during winter for dessert with cheese and it was excellent - sweet, complex as you describe although looking up my note, I did find it a touch alcoholic at the back.

BTW Michael, this was an Indice 4.