1998 Riesling Harth Tradition

Bernard Schoffit, one of Alsace top sources for late-harvest pinot gris, describes 1998 as the vintage of the century for liquoreux wines from the great Rangen vineyard (a claim that was supported by the wines I saw at Zind-Humbrecht).Noble rot was rampant, and the October 10 through 22 period offered excellent picking conditions.In 1997, in contrast, Schoffit will not offer much in the way of vendange tardive wine—"because it's not generally a year from which to hold wines for 10 or 15 years."Still, Schoffit has managed to make some superb late-harvest pinot gris; much '97 tokay from Alsace is massive and rather low in acidity, but not here.Schoffit describes '95 and '96 as more classic years for riesling than '97, which produced atypically rich examples.I also tasted several still-fermenting 1998 rieslings, including a citric, deep Sommerberg and two Rangen rieslings (including one that will be bottled as SGN) that may well surpass the '97s.