2005 Riesling

Francis Burn described 2005 as "a more extreme growing season than 2004, with a lot of noble rot." Thanks to the extended warm period in October following the rainy spell at the beginning of the month, the grapes dried at the end and there was a lot of concentration of sugars and acids, which Burn referred to as "a little miracle." And a high percentage of the acidity was of the tartaric persuasion, rather than malic. He compares his 2005 crop of wines to his 1995s, another vintage with thick, dry skins and relatively little juice. Incidentally, when I was in France at the end of May, I attempted to retaste a number of Burn 2005s that had not yet been bottled last September. But I discovered that as he is still selling through earlier vintages, the 2005s were still being kept in tank. (A Peter Vezan Selection, imported by North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; Dionysos Imports, Lorton, VA; and Import!, Madison, WI)