The 2005 Muscat d’Alsace Spiegel is a product of late harvest and long fermentation (neither unusual at this address), but like the typical Muscat d’Alsace of today (and atypically for Dirler) it stopped with noticeable sweetness (and nearly 2% less alcohol than the 2004). Bright lemon and orange citrus nicely compliment this wine’s 25 grams residual sugar, and pure apricot nectar laced with mint lead to a refreshing, satisfying finish. If you want your Muscat dry-tasting, feel free to hold this for as long as 8-10 years.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