From a newly acquired parcel of ancient vines in the Pfersigberg whose fruit was laborious destemmed by hand to keep its tiny berries intact, Barthelmes’ have rendered a 2009 Pinot Noir Les Saintes Claires. A smoky cast from toasted oak could tone down a bit for my taste and for the good of the manifestly fine, seamlessly ripe boysenberry and blackberry fruit that lies beneath. Spice and smoke persist in a finish that again is marked by wood, now in a faintly drying capacity. I won’t go into detail regarding this speculation, but I suspect the source for the once-used barriques employed is not the best choice, given the relatively bitter-edged but potentially fine-grained fruit concentration and structure of grape tannins that these vines have produced. Still, we’ll see what becomes of this in bottle, not to mention in half a dozen years. Although Maurice and Jacky Barthelme continued to pick their 2009 Rieslings into October and achieved satisfyingly ripe flavors, they did so without suffering high alcohol or unbalanced sweetness. Unsurprisingly (whether or not verifiably), they implicate the accumulated experience and effects of a biodynamic regimen in these results. Equally importantly, the levels of acidity in their 2009 Rieslings are ample and efficacious. With Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer, they were forced to discharge high must weights in the form of almost universally high residual sugar, with attractive if seldom distinguished results. The Mann 2008s are characterized by particularly concentrated and positively efficacious acidity, all of the Rieslings weighing-in at what on paper might look like an excessive 9 grams or more. Not only have the Barthelme brothers been together now for 21 vintages – to me it still seems like yesterday that I “discovered” their 1988s – but they point out that most of their present crew has been together for nearly a decade, which is bound to have been instrumental in their having been able to repeatedly expand into new vineyards without sacrificing the highest standards, not to mention with their enthusiasm still youthful.Importer: Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800