Assembled from Auxerrois, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Gris, the Barmes-Buecher 2007 Cremant d’Alsace Brut Lot 7001 offers a lovely nose of fresh pear, lily-of-the-valley, freshly-milled wheat; offers great delicacy, refined mousse, and subtle creaminess on a palate laced with inner-mouth florals and on which fresh orange and lime offer vivacious juiciness; and finishes with wheat germ, nut oils, and subtle sous-bois offering low tones to compliment the pear and flowers. Here is yet more proof that amid the many-too-many mediocre wines of this genre, a few renditions like this excellent value stand out and ought to enjoy a far wider clientele. There is as usual a lot of fascinating wine in Francois Barmes’ constantly shifting, hugely diverse as well as just plain huge 2007 collection, though the level of success was on the whole consistent. As in the past, though, I remained relatively unconvinced by Barmes’ way with Pinot Gris, despite its being a grape that elsewhere revealed special potential in 2007. I can’t say 2006 here represents an advertisement for Barmes’ conscientious and long-standing biodynamic practices, but then, in a year of rampant rot, surely the absence of anti-botrytis sprays has to have been sorely felt at many biodynamic estates. There were a couple of 2006s here too fungal to recommend, with the majority of what was a reduced line-up meriting mild recommendation provided they are drunk-up soon.Importer: Sussex Wine Merchants, Moorestown, NJ; tel. (856) 608 9644; also, a Thomas Calder Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011-33-1-46-45-15-29