Topic: TN: Boxler rebellion (Alsace, pt. 3, long, img)
Author: Thor Iverson (Boston, MA)
Date: 20040119223716

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Paris

The cheese that keeps on giving The lapin not-so-agile

Alsace

Monsieur is a great connoisseur The Beyer necessities

Nieder here nor there

Niedermorschwihr. The name rolls off the tongue like a Panzer division.

As with Soultzmatt to the south, this is a rather lengthwise town; a narrow street ascending into the mountains, surrounded by jewel-colored half-timbers leaning and listing in mocking derision for strict verticality. At the absolute tip-top of the village, just as buildings give way to rocky, undulating forest, the severe ravine of the Sommerberg – its Mosel-like upper reaches scattered with a few clinging vines – rears into view. And in its foreground, a large orange building of no particular note or apparent import blocks the rest of it from sight.

This is Domaine Albert Boxler.

Mothers and sons

We're led to an upstairs tasting room by a tall, slender, very Alsatian woman with the sibilant, sing-song cadence of the regional dialect and that slight inhalation that provides a coda to every third phrase; frequent visitors will know the sound well. Yet in contrast to the usual initial reserve of the locals, she's warm and welcoming from the start. An older woman, slicing aromatics near a stove radiating the rich aromas of roast poultry, waves and smiles as we ascend the stairs past her open kitchen. Midway through our tasting, a small blonde boy – the living embodiment of a rosy-cheeked Hansi youth – stares quietly at us from the doorway for a moment, his vivid blue eyes open and innocent, his index finger just penetrating the corner of his mouth. Our hostess attempt to get him to say hello, but his cheeks further redden as he looks shyly downward and remains silent.

Niedermorschwihr: say it three times fast

"Someday," we muse, as much to each other as to the boy, "you might be the winemaker." His mother laughs; gently, musically.

The tasting room itself is fairly dark, with natural light on both sides, and quite small. This isn't a winery set up for random drive-by tasting; appointments must be made. Glasses are set up, and with another little quarter-gasp, we're asked what we'd like to taste. There's never an answer that doesn't, to my ears, sound slightly greedy, but then any other answer is slightly dishonest: "anything you have open, if that's OK."

Our hostess brightens. "Of course!" As it turns out, quite a bit is open.

A Brand new day

We start at the unquestioned beginning – with an Edelzwicker – and proceed through the lightest-bodied classic grapes of Alsace, pinot blanc (with additions of auxerrois) and riesling, where we linger for a long while. The aromatic grapes end up squeezed into the end of the tasting, an afterthought (though a quality one), yet it hardly seems to matter; we'll have already tasted the specialties of the house. This is a winery that produces an impressive number of fine wines, but the stars of their lineup will always be their exquisite, expressive rieslings.

Boxler 2001 "Edelzwicker" (Alsace) – A blend of sylvaner, riesling, and pinot blanc. The nose is dominated by a very ripe dose of the latter grape, showing aromatic spiced pear and lychee, with turns to soft, leafy tomato on the midpalate (there's the sylvaner), and finishing with bracing, stentorian acidity (there's the riesling). A fine effort with this oft-dismissed blend, best for parties and uncritical warm-weather quaffing, yet with enough complexity to hold the attention of the curious.

Boxler 2001 Pinot Blanc (L20A) (Alsace) – Boxler's lot codes are one of those trainspotter details that seem to be especially designed to bewilder eager novices. Like A.P. numbers in Germany, they're essential to correctly identifying the wines. But unlike A.P. numbers, they're an unfortunate result of certain inelegant and arbitrary facts of Alsace's appellation law. Here, the problem is that pinot blanc is not a "noble" grape in terms of Alsatian grand cru labeling (that identifier being restricted to riesling, pinot gris, gewurztraminer, and muscat). Since the name of a grand cru vineyard cannot appear on bottles made from other grapes, alternatives must be found; at Boxler, lot numbers are the answer. This is not a grand cru-sourced wine, but carries its own unique identifier to differentiate it from another pinot blanc that is grand cru-sourced. The "A" stands for a vineyard name I have not been able to pin down; something like "Annathal," though the name is not in any of my references.

Sommerberg (in the background)

And so, after all that, about the wine: it's a blend of pinot blanc and auxerrois (in the manner of many, perhaps most, Alsatian "pinot blancs"), showing lots of juicy pear, ripe and fruity apple, and a wet quartz undertone. It's a bit sweet, but structured enough to carry its sugar, and will likely age and develop spicier, more mineral notes with time.

Boxler 2001 Pinot Blanc (L20B) (Alsace) – Here, on the other hand, is a similar blend sourced from the grand cru Brand, a vineyard gifted with a number of high-quality growers who vinify its often-extraordinary fruit. The vineyard is a south- and southeast- facing sun trap that can, in hotter years, overripen grapes to the detriment of the resultant wines; more classic years (like 2001, at least on this vineyard) provide better balance and poise by preserving essential acidity during slower, smoother ripening. Showing the forcefulness of the site with smoky/spicy, ultra-dense, crystalline minerality in a thick yet balanced package, this is an absolutely stunning pinot blanc with excellent aging potential, and unquestionably one of the best in Alsace.

Boxler 2001 Riesling (L30) (Alsace) – The only weak link in the lineup…but with so many other rieslings, this multi-site (and multi-age) blend is bound to absorb decidedly lesser raw materials from Boxler's various vineyards. Soft white flowers (especially clover) are about all there is to this wine, and the finish is rather short, despite decent balancing acidity. This will probably age OK, but it will never improve or develop to any great extent.

Boxler 2001 Riesling (L30M) (Alsace) – If Brand is a heat trap, Sommerberg is the opposite: south-facing and at a high enough altitude to make ripening an adventure in difficult years. Both are steep – Sommerberg astoundingly so, especially at its upper and Western elevations – and share a generally granitic substrata, but the vineyards are unquestionably different in their overall soil composition and position, and their differences show primarily by variations in intensity rather than flavor. This blend of the two vineyards brings together the qualities of both, to stunning effect: loads of spice layered with thick, dark "black" minerality with balance and length to spare. There's some sweetness, but it's well-balanced with acidity. As deliciously appealing as this wine is now, it should age beautifully, "shedding" some of that softening sugar while ramping up the mineral intensity. A marvelous wine.

Boxler 2001 Riesling Sommerberg "Grand Cru" (L30JV) (Alsace) – As the lot number implies (in French), this is a young vines cuvée, and shows some of the inherent limitations of such grapes. Shy and light, with salt- and white pepper-dusted Granny Smith apple skin on the palate and a touch of finishing bitterness, as if skin ripeness lagged ever so slightly behind that of the rest of the grape. Still, the finish is long, and this should age in a moderately successful way.

Domaine Albert Boxler

Boxler 2001 Riesling Sommerberg "Grand Cru" (L31E) (Alsace) – From the Eichberg subplot of Sommerberg. Individual plot designations are not inherently prohibited by Alsace's appellation regulations, but this one is, because Eichberg is the name of another grand cru vineyard (near Eguisheim, and the source of many of the grapes vinified by Léon Beyer). Drying and very acidic, with a walloping hunk of iron right in the middle, this is all structure and minerality with a long, dry finish. The previous rieslings may have been more or less drinkable at this stage; here's one that needs age, though I believe it will blossom with enough time into something stern, steely, and enticingly austere.

Boxler 2001 Riesling Brand "Grand Cru" (L32) (Alsace) – Completely different, as one would expect: dark, smoky zig-zags of ultra-ripe pear and plum encased in cedar, full-bodied and ripe, with a little sweetness and a vivid finish on which fruit and minerality appear in equal, yet intense, measure. However, the wine is fighting for the right to close down, and it should be allowed to do so; in a decade, or more, this will be stunning.

Boxler 2001 Riesling Sommerberg "Grand Cru" (L31D) (Alsace) – From the Dudenstein subplot of Sommerberg, and from old vines. As with the L30JV, the results are clear. Steely, chalky minerality of tremendous intensity pierces the heart of a ripe yet crisply malic green apple; stern now, it will contract and then broaden again with age.

Boxler 2001 Riesling Sommerberg "Grand Cru" (L31) (Alsace) – From the same vieilles vignes selection of Dudenstein, but late-harvested, showing all the married richness and poise one could possibly desire. Extremely ripe hazelnut-encrusted spiced apple and peach with a luscious, creamy texture and surprisingly restrained sweetness, this smoothes out into a long, delicate finish of lacy minerality. Outstanding now, even more outstanding in the future.

Boxler 1996 Riesling Sommerberg "Grand Cru" (L31) (Alsace) – Given the lot number, it can probably be assumed that this is also Dudenstein, old vines, and late-harvested, though this isn't spelled out at tasting. It's in a bit of a closed stage, showing creamy mirabelle plum, limestone, and charcoal-dusted cedar with a drying, yet long finish. Overall, this is less rich than the 2001, and while it should open back up with time, it lacks the intensity and poise of the 2001 (though it will have a quieter quality of its own).

Boxler 2000 Riesling Sommerberg "Grand Cru" "Vendange Tardive" (LRVT00) (Alsace) – No, I don't know why the lot numbering completely changes for this wine, though in this case it is obviously rather easily deciphered: Lot, Riesling, Vendange Tardive, vintage 2000. Smoked cedar and a hugely aromatic nose and midpalate of chalk, quartz, and hauntingly sweet woodsmoke balance in support of a wonderfully ripe, full-bodied expression of minerality and terroir. If there's the slightest flaw, and that's "if", it's that this wine could use a touch more acidity. Yet the wine will still age very well, and deserves the time necessary to develop into something even more complex.

Shedding tears of wine

Boxler 2000 Muscat Brand "Grand Cru" (L42) (Alsace) – Very ripe, showing classic varietal character (flowers and bitter perfume) with ripe banana and a mineral-driven structural backbone. Marvelous, with the potential for short term aging and development.

Boxler 2000 Pinot Gris Brand "Grand Cru" (Alsace) – For some reason, I miss the lot number here, but it doesn't matter in this case. Peach, ripe pear, ripe red apple, and spicy (almost peppered) marzipan are graced with a light, lilting rose fragrance. There's the pinot gris. As for Brand: full, medium-sweet smoked minerals dominate the finish. A terrific wine, with endless upside.

Boxler 2001 Gewurztraminer (L60H) (Alsace) – Another badly-understood site designation on my part (it's something like Heinterberg; all I'm sure of is that it's granite), but an absolutely stunning expression of the variety. Plum and lychee with allspice, clove, and cinnamon mixed with a mélange of nuts (cashew, Brazil, and hazelnut) shot through with intense, sharp minerality. Flawlessly executed.

All the nerve

A lot of wines, but at the finish I'm far from exhausted. Rather, I'm exhilarated. The adjective "mind-blowing" is, perhaps, overused in this age of superlatives, yet it easily applies here. And more impressive is that a portfolio that relies so much on ripeness and frequently-present sugar can captivate a dedicated devotée of dry Alsatian wine such as myself.

But the difference is definable. So many wines made from grapes taken to the extremes of ripeness and concentration do so at the expense of their focus and their soul; terroir expression is not enhanced, it is obliterated by the deforming influences of excessive sugar, alcohol, and roasted aromatics that bury complexity and delicacy under ear-splitting amplification. And acidity is all too often an afterthought, a bit player in an overblown Andrew Lloyd Webber extravaganza of endlessly tiresome showstoppers. What Boxler retains is a fundamental nervosity – that point of balance and poise between richness and reticence, fruit and acidity, comfort and confrontation – that sharpens the lens through which a wine's terroir and varietal composition are viewed.

These wines are ripe, delicious, captivating…but above all, they are a monumental expression of site. And there is nothing in all the world of wine – certainly not the lurid cult of uncritical hedonism – that is as purely joyful as that simple expression.

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