2005 Altenberg de Bergheim

In contrast to growers in the warmer southern portion of Alsace, who brought in a good bit of fruit prior to the rainy spell in early October, Jean-Michel Deiss reported that rain during the 2005 harvest resulted in "more difficult rot." For him, the 2005 growing season was "complicated and changeable," and he noted that his harvest yielded the smallest crop here in 25 years. He preferred the climate of 2004, although he admitted that the crop load in the earlier year was potentially huge. Because Deiss takes his time to release his vins de terroir (wines made from two or more co-planted grape varieties and labelled only by vineyard name), he only showed me a handful of these offerings in September. However, he shipped me most of his terroir wines to sample in June, and these wines were noteworthy for their extraordinary range of tastes and textures. Tasting Alsace wines without having the guideposts of the variety to fall back on is always an adventure. (Vintus, Pleasantville, NY) Also recommended: 2005 Vin Rouge de St. Hippolyte (86+).