From a south-facing schist site in Guebwiller, the 2004 Pinot Gris Schimberg offers a fascinating amalgam of tactile mineral and herbal pungency, toasted almond, peach, distinct salinity, persistent smokiness, and coffee-mocha character, the latter – along with piquant nuttiness – emerging with particular prominence in the wine’s long, low-toned finish. This is really compact and concentrated, not at all flamboyant but bound to deliver more and more complexity and richness over at least the next 3-5 years, and despite ten grams of residual sugar, it can be treated virtually as dry wine even today. So enormous is the range of wines nowadays grown at the combined Dirler and Cade domaine that I did not have the time to taste them all. (All of those I did taste are at least mentioned in the text.) Along with the involvement of the new generation – Jean Dirler and his wife Ludivine (nee Cade) – the entire domaine has been farmed biodynamically since 1998 (and parts of the Kessler and Kitterle with horse), a factor the family thinks especially beneficial given the climatic extremes that have prevailed in recent years. Riesling and Pinot Gris are generally fermented in foudre here, and other whites usually in tank. Very few families of Alsace wine have exhibited long-term the consistent quality and age-ability one can expect of those bottled under the Dirler name.Importer: Robert Chadderdon Selections, New York, NY; tel. (212) 757-8185