The 2004 Gewurztraminer Furstentum certainly displays obvious stylistic (terroir?) resemblance to its Pinot Gris counterpart: peachy, honeyed richness, generous spice, and a surprising degree of fresh fruit acidity for its variety and for a wine so ripe and botrytized. The Gewurztraminer character – by way of high tone mint, rose petal, and coffee-mocha low-tones – only clearly emerges on the palate, where 20 grams of residual sugar make for only a slight impression of sweetness thanks for the wines extract and acidity. A satisfying sense of chalkiness underlies this wine’s rich finish, and 15% alcohol engenders no bitterness or heat.Young Jean-Christophe Bott is passionate about quality and unafraid to make sacrifices on its behalf. He has adopted a biodynamic regimen in the vineyards and is now holding most of his wines 6-24 months in bottle before release. Clarity and cleanliness run through all of these, and it is encouraging to taste so many Riesling that are uncompromisingly dry (although occasionally bitterness or alcohol intrude). Bott feels capable of encouraging dryness and balance in various ways in the vineyard and the cellar without ever intervening in or attempting to re-start sluggish fermentations. By no means all of the wines I tasted displayed strong personalities, but many of them gave reason to believe – as does Bott’s articulate advocacy – that this will be one of the more talked-about Alsace domains of the coming decade. Given the challenges that so many of his fellow-growers recorded with this variety in 2004, his success in bringing Gewurztraminer to subtly-ennobled ripeness in that vintage – while taking advantage of higher than usual acidities – is especially noteworthy.Importer: Eric Solomon Selections, Charlotte, NC; tel. (704) 358-1565