2000 Pinot Gris

In Marc Beyer absence, I tasted this year with his father Leon, who has been involved in winemaking at this firm since the 1940s. Beyer Senior described the 2000 vintage as riper, rounder and more elegant than 1999, with better fruit if often somewhat low acidity. "The '99s are tighter and less rich," he added. Beyer told me that the rieslings are especially pleasant in 2000, but for me the gewurztraminers were, once again, the stars of the cellar in the new vintage. My tasting concluded with an extraordinary series of late-harvest gewurztraminers from the 1998 vintage. A word to those unfamiliar with the style of this house: expect wines dryer than the norm in every category.