2007 Muscat Herrenweg

Olivier Humbrecht thinks that with increasingly warm, early vintages, the red and white strains of Muscat d’Alsace – though harder to ripen – will promote better acidity and rot-resistence, and with new plantings coming on line, his 2007 Muscat d’Alsace Herrenweg is now minority Ottonel. Completely dry and at just under 14% alcohol, this smells of apricot, gooseberry, portabella, and sage. Corpulent, yet invigorating in its cress, tart fruit skin, and cress, it evinces an underlying sense of smoked meat as well as things musky and fungal. This should be fascinating and versatile over at least the next 3-5 years, but it is by no means a classic of its type, and in casting about for food-pairing intuition, you might want to imagine it as a cross between Muscat d’Alsace and Pinot Noir! Apr 2010, www.robertparker.com