Wine Cellar

Wine:  Kessler Grand Cru Gewurztraminer

51 of the very best vineyards in the Alsace wine region have been classified “Grand Cru”. They represent 6 percent of the area under vine and 4 percent of production in Alsace. Domaines Schlumberger have vines in four of these 51 classified Grand Cru vineyards and they only label a wine “Grand Cru” should it meet the “Grand Cru” criteria as well as their own very strict control, where the vines are at least 12 years old. Wine from the “Grand Cru” vineyards not labeled as such is used in the Les Princes Abbes range.

Wine:  Kitterle Grand Cru Riesling

51 of the very best vineyards in the Alsace wine region have been classified “Grand Cru”. They represent 6 percent of the area under vine and 4 percent of production in Alsace. Domaines Schlumberger have vines in four of these 51 classified Grand Cru vineyards and they only label a wine “Grand Cru” should it meet the “Grand Cru” criteria as well as their own very strict control, where the vines are at least 12 years old. Wine from the “Grand Cru” vineyards not labeled as such is used in the Les Princes Abbes range.

Wine:  Les Princes Abbes Gewurztraminer

THE CLASSIC RANGE: LES PRINCES ABBES: In homage to the Abbot Princes of Murbach who for more than 1000 years preserved and tended the vineyards that the wines come from.

Wine:  Les Princes Abbes Pinot Gris

THE CLASSIC RANGE: LES PRINCES ABBES: In homage to the Abbot Princes of Murbach who for more than 1000 years preserved and tended the vineyards that the wines come from.

Wine:  Les Princes Abbes Riesling

THE CLASSIC RANGE: LES PRINCES ABBES: In homage to the Abbot Princes of Murbach who for more than 1000 years preserved and tended the vineyards that the wines come from.

Wine:  SGN Cuvee Clarisse

THE CUVEES DE COLLECTION: Produced from selected grapes with Noble Rot using a number of passes through the vineyard. Only produced in exceptional years and very rare. Only made in 1964,1989,1997,1998, 2000. 154g/l RS

Wine:  Clos St Hune

In its aromas of lime, apricot, narcissus, chalk dust, red currant, and musk, the 2005 Riesling Clos Ste-Hune is surprisingly a bit more open and expressive than the Frederic Emile. On the palate this exhibits amazing, chalky density, firm citricity and a satiny, slippery, glycerin-rich texture. Tart red berry, pungent citrus zest, and quarry dust dominate in a finish that is unsurprisingly unyielding but promisingly long. Only time can reveal this wine’s true degree of superiority to the Frederic Emile, and the latter might well nip at its heels indefinitely!

Wine:  Gewurztraminer

Dry and tangy, with white peach, tangerine and spice notes. There's good snap from the firm acidity, with a modest, floral finish. Drink now. 13,000 cases made. –AN

Wine:  Muscat

Wine:  Pinot Gris

Wine:  Pinot Gris

A dry Pinot Gris, with hints of mushroom accenting the pear, white peach and smoke notes. Citrusy acidity enlivens this fleshy white, with a lingering, smoky finish. Drink now. 19,000 cases made. –AN

Wine:  Riesling

Light-bodied, showing a smoky subnote to its subtle flavors of Anjou pear, yellow apple, anise and wax, followed by a fresh, stony finish. Drink now through 2019. 30,000 cases made.

Wine:  Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile

The 2005 Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile follows the lead of the “reserve” bottling in offering palpable extract yet elegance and refinement. Peach, apricot, apricot kernel, lime, and pungent floral notes in the nose lead to a juicy mouthful of citrus and pit fruit with further invigoration added by accents of salt, huckleberry and toasted pumpkin seeds. Blazingly bright in its citricity and palate-staining in its fruit, nut, and mineral intensity, this displays an amazing tiny-berry concentration and utmost clarity when one considers its having been rained on early in October – tribute to an impeccable viticultural regime as well as the breezy location (on the Osterberg) of these vines. It won’t be released until 2010, by which time it can be expected to have “shut down” and re-opened, as well as – I hasten to add – to promise further richness and complexity over the following 12-15 years. Chalk dust, sea breeze and lime in the nose of their 2004 Riesling Reserve set the rather austere tone for this densely-concentrated wine. A hint of muskiness signals an exotic aspect that runs right though a minerally-intense finish that really shows the wines ripe but ultra-bright acidity. This (like some of the other 2004s) appears to already be in the process of shutting down a bit, leading me to wonder whether it might hit the market while in a vinous trough.

Wine:  Riesling Reserve

A clean, minerally, light-bodied Riesling, with racy acidity and subtle flavors of yellow apple, apple blossom, almond and smoke. Hints of fleur de sel and lemon zest linger on the moderate finish. Drink now through 2020. 4,500 cases made. –AN