Ostertag’s 2009 Riesling Vignoble d’E – like many vintages of this village-level wine – offers Riesling in Muscat guise, featuring sage, orange blossom, lemon peel, and dried apricot on an effusive nose and a (for its vintage) surprisingly firm and refreshing, utterly dry palate. There is plenty of invigoration to the finish, and the wine should prove versatile over the next 4-5 years. Andre Ostertag picked most of his 2008s in the second week of October – relatively early for that vintage – and only 8-10 days behind the period during which the bulk of his 2009s were brought in. “The central problem with 2009,” observes Ostertag, “was to achieve balanced dryness in the finished wines.” (He would exempt Gewurztraminer from that comment, because he always finishes it unapologetically sweet; though here too, as my tasting notes demonstrate, something to counterbalance residual sugar was wanting.) Ostertag calls 2008 “a classic vintage, in the manner of the 1980s (decade),” and on reflection came up with the vintage analogy that had most struck me, namely to 1988.Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524-1524