The Bursin 2007 Muscat d’Alsace – principally Ottonel – smells pungently of cress, resin, and candied lemon zest and is brisk and impressively persistent, if not terribly refreshing. Hints of white pepper and crushed stone convey a certain sense of austerity despite a hint of sweetness. This will prove useful over the next several years. Agathe Bursin – for more about whom consult issue 175 – is one of Alsace’s major emerging talents, as witness her surprisingly fine showing in the difficult 2006 vintage. Bursin’s 2007 vintage Rieslings are comparatively firm, though they may well blossom short-term, and as usual she has scored impressive results with Gewurztraminer.A Thomas Calder Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011-33-1-46-45-15-29