2004 Riesling Schlossberg

Like many other Alsace producers, the Blancks are in no rush to ship their wines. The vins classiques are released early, but the lieux-dit and the grand crus are held back for more bottle aging (the 2004s have not yet been shipped to export markets). Frederic Blanck told me that the domain has been picking earlier and with more precision since 2001 and is now also blending more carefully. Still, he admitted, the fruit in 2004 was picked on the late side, between the rains. "They're very terroir-driven wines that will probably have aging curves like the 2002s," he told me. "And like 2002 the vintage may have been saved by a drying east wind, which slowed the development of rot after some of the rainy periods." Most of the top 2005s had been bottled just prior to my visit, and I plan to retaste these wines before publishing notes on them in a future issue.