The 2005 Pinot Blanc is smoky and chalky in the nose, with a strikingly creamy palate presence (though no deficiency of acid) and excellent concentration of subtly caramelized peach, marzipan, and hazelnut cream. In view of the flavors on display here, the hint of sweetness is not out of place in its satisfyingly rich finish. The Rolly-Gassmanns were early champions of Auxerrois (as was I – oh, the stories of blind tastings I could tell!) to which they now devote more than twenty acres and three different cuvees. I am not convinced about the ability of this low-acid cepage to balance significant residual sugar, though, unless one is willing to hold such wines for at least 5-7 years (and, in fact, vintages 2000-2002 are on their price list at present). A tasting of young wines chez Rolly-Gassmann is akin to an athletic event given the sheer number of them and their generally high levels of residual sugar. (Even the “Edelzwicker” here is noticeably sweet.) Ordinarily, one has to restrain Louis Gassmann to confine his sidebars – illustrated with one or more older vintages – to a minimum, else the number of wines can get completely out of control. And I was trying to canvass two vintages at one sitting! A drawback with this approach is that most of the wines currently on offer are from vintages prior to 2004 (explaining also why few retail prices are yet available for the wines reviewed here) but there was simply no time to taste and report on earlier vintages in detail. During the several hours I tasted with Louis and son Pierre while gazing down at the door to their cellar, it appeared that Marie-Therese Rolly-Gassmann attended to an unending stream of customers. That crowd, I suppose – plus the prominent placements these wines have enjoyed in France’s top restaurants for two decades – tells you that a local penchant for Alsace wine with residual sweetness is widespread, and by no a means recent phenomenon. The best Rolly-Gassmann wines manage their residual sugar without obscuring vineyard-specific characteristics or fatiguing the palate.Importers: Vin de Garde Wines Ltd., Portland, OR; tel. (503) 224 2470; Esquin Imports Inc., San Anselmo, CA (415) 451 2520; and a Bryce McNamee Selection, Boutique Wines, Philadelphia, PA (914) 954 6583.
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