Domaine Marcel Deiss Gruenspiel Bergheim, Alsace, France

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From a red marl-gravel above Ribeauville, the 2007 Gruenspiel is another of what Deiss calls his “white red wines,” and, indeed, there the blend is one third each Pinot Noir, Gewurztraminer, and Riesling. Green tea, red currant jelly, and overtly chalky and alkaline mineral suggestions on the nose all remind me a bit of a top-notch Chassagne Morgeot. An exchange of peach, musk melon, red currant, and lemon underlain by chalk on a dense palate offers energy and impressive grip, and this finishes with its sweetness restrained by strong, almost ineffable minerality and red wine-like though fine tannin. It should be tremendously fascinating to follow over at least the next 10-12 years, and absolutely devilish to present to the unsuspecting wine sophisticate blind. Jean-Michel Deiss has been officially tasked with assisting his fellow Alsace growers in the drafting of new regional regulations and labeling conventions, in keeping with both France’s proposed move to a higher-order French appellation “d’Origine Protegee” and with the potential regional autonomy provided for (if inchoately) by recent EU legislation. As readers can imagine, Deiss’s vision involves a drastically diminished scope and roll for varietal bottling, analogous to his conception of Alsace crus as being best expressed by a blending of multiple cepages. (For more on the evolution of Deiss’s approach, consult my report in issue 175). Two things are indubitable: Alsace could use fresh approaches to labeling and marketing; and any Deiss proposal will have been thought-through all the way down to its historical and metaphysical levels. Deiss’s own line and labeling have been further simplified: beginning with 2006 his lower tier of wines is being bottled without village designations, leaving him more flexibility in blending. Although Deiss did not bottle a full compliment of his crus from the rot-challenged 2006 vintage, he said he was loath to pull back by settling his musts more aggressively of bottling earlier, “because the lees are the megaphone for the terroir.” Fair enough in principle, but the results were to say the least decidedly mixed, whereas Deiss’s 2007s represent a resounding success. (Deiss did not show me his lower-tier 2006s and I did not have chance to ferret any of them out from the marketplace.)Importer: Vintus, Pleasantville, NY; tel. (914) 769-3000