A strikingly fungal theme ran through all of the Albrecht Pinot Gris bottlings I tasted, and their 2004 Pinot Gris Pfingstberg was redolent of ceps and lichen, along with subtle smokiness. Creamy in texture, with veal stock, smoked meat, and sauteed mushroom character, this finishes with strikingly low-toned richness but no lack of juiciness and no heat from its over-14% alcohol. It should have interesting applications at table, I can’t see any reason to defer drinking it, although it ought to hold well for at least a few additional years. This site promotes such ripening that Pinot Gris here is often picked even before the domaine’s Auxerrois which in 2003 meant August 14! Jean Albrecht offers a range of negotiant wines (sparkling, and those labeled “Reserve”) as well as domaine bottlings, together with a remarkably deep range of older vintages, and none of the 2005s from his top sites had been bottled yet last Spring, nor was he willing to show them. Among numerous ambitious plans afoot here is a replanting program based entirely on selection massale from the estate’s best old vines.Importer: Pasternak Wine Imports, Harrison, NY; tel. (914) 630-8214