2004 Riesling

Pierre Trimbach's take on 2005 and 2004 is a bit different from that of some of his colleagues. He described the 2005 rieslings as classic wines with good acidity, and gewurztraminer and pinot gris too are rather classic in style. In comparison, he told me, 2004 has more of an exotic taste. He described it as like bouillon blanc, a white flower that grows in forests. (This flower shows scents of medicinal herbs and is used in numerous medications, including cough medicine.) Like a number of winemakers in Alsace, he warned me to be on the lookout for a mushroom taste in 2004 pinot gris. Problems with pinot gris grape skins, he said, are not always obvious at the time of the harvest. The mushroom element was more of a factor in 2004 than in 2005, he added, and in 2002 more than in 2003. The top 2004 rieslings at Trimbach are are quite fine-in my notebook at least as strong as the '05s. The '05s may be austere and backward but these '04s share a crystalline quality and compelling inner-palate energy. "We didn't have an especially big crop in riesling in '04," said Pierre, "and that's why these wines are so good." There were no classic late-harvest bottlings in 2004.