Apricot eau de vie, elder flower, mint and sage flower in the nose of Beyer’s 2009 Riesling are reminiscent of Muscat. A bittersweet alternation of apricot flesh and apricot kernel, orange rind and pungent herbal concentrate on a firm palate manages to bring some welcome refreshment to bear in its finish. (Full disclosure: part of what accomplishes this is almost certainly the 2008 that Beyer retained in cask and back-blended to the legal limit, in order to add pep to this 2009.) This should prove quite user-friendly over at least the next 4-5 years. (I did not have occasion to taste this wine’s 2008 counterpart.) Even in 2003, Marc Beyer and his team rendered a collection true to their domaine’s principles of dryness, acid-retention, and mineral expression, while for the most part avoiding alcoholic overload or flat-footedness. So I wasn’t surprised that they considered 2009 child’s play by comparison and fielded an often excellent if variable collection. “It was a vintage where you really had to wait,” says Marc Beyer of 2008, “but the fruit kept its acidity; eventually the maturity came up to over 13 (% natural alcohol); and the wines achieved a perfect balance.” Certainly the best of them did, at least. With their tendency to express volatile esters; their often big-boned and angular architecture; and their unapologetic absence of residual sugar, Beyer wines may well strike many of today’s oenophiles and writers as an anachronism, whereas for others of us, they are like a part of the profoundly beautiful village landscapes of Alsace to which we repeatedly return with a sense of comforting familiarity and the knowledge that their slow evolution will be as reliable as their adherence to a traditional style. But that is not meant to suggest that surprises are precluded, and in fact in both 2009 and 2008 there are a number of Beyer wines the likes of which I have difficulty recalling from this address or any other.Imported by Aveniu (A.V.) Brands, Baltimore, MD; tel. (410) 884-9463
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