2009 Zind-Humbrecht Gewurztraminer- France, Alsace, Alsace AOC (10/21/2011)
This is totally Gewurzt for me! HUGE florals of lychee nut perfume, muscat, peach and orange…as well as a cool pepper spice kick. Seems like it will be sweet, yet it’s bone dry! LOADED with tingly lemon acidity…it really tames the sweetness and gives it a nice savory balance…bringing out what really makes the wine…the florals! Also shows complexities of smoked grey salt, honey, and mango. A go-to Gewurzt at go-to pricing…killer wine! (92 pts.)
I’ll ahve to pick up a bottle of this. It had been a while since I had a Gewurtz until about three weeks ago when I had an Albrecht and found that I really enjoyed it much more than I remember enjoying a gewurtz.
Picked this one up at the local grocery (O’brien)…and might have over paid a bit, $25…looks like K&L, Winex and the likes have it around $20. I guess there is two versions out there…on the label, lower left corner, it will have “L170” or “L17N”. I had the L170.
RP:
"90 points Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate: “The Zind-Humbrecht 2009 Gewurztraminer L17O (along with its modestly sweet counterpart L17N) incorporates most of this year-s crop from the Herrenweg; the entire crop of the small but often distinguished village parcels in Turckheim and Wintzenheim; plus young vines from the Hengst. At 3,000 cases, it and the L17N constitute a volume three times the usual for generic Z-H Gewurz. Like the corresponding Pinot Gris, this finished dry at 14% alcohol, yet not only does it retain a fine sense of primary fruit juiciness, it also displays buoyancy that borders on delicacy. That-s not to say the oily richness or sense of inner-mouth expansiveness one expects from its genre are missing. Celery root, brown spices, and rose petal abound in this charmer, with pungent hints of catnip and pepper adding stimulation to an unusually refreshing finish. A small-scale triumph for its vintage which might well keep longer, I would still relish this wine-s youthful allure over the next couple of years.” (05/11) "