Exotic spiciness, dusty pungency, and honey in the nose suggest the extent to which the Dirlers’ 2004 Riesling Spiegel tangled with botrytis. Alkaline and mothball aromatic hints provide counterpoint. Impressively rich in the mouth, with oiliness of texture and dried peach and apricot fruit character, this finishes long but lacking in the clarity or refinement of the (many) better Rieslings here today. Time may open further vistas, but there are too many much more obvious candidates at this address for cellaring to make this worth choosing to cellar. 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