2002 Riesling Vendange Tardive

Pineapple, honey, and spiced crabapple aromas rise from the Trimbach 2002 Riesling Vendange Tardive. Improbably bracing and refreshing for the genre, this saturates the palate with pineapple, honey, and crabapple, leading to a lip-smacking finish in which more than thirty grams of residual sugar barely make the wine taste sweet. Seldom does a vendange tardive taste this dry or refreshing. There might well be nuances to come here, but at the very least this wine’s energy and primary fruit intensity won’t fade for more than a decade. The botrytis that was here did its noble work and departed without leaving mundane traces. The Trimbach family continues to render some of the world’s finest Riesling; to uphold the principle that wine of Alsace (unless V.T.) should not taste sweet; to release wines only when they believe those wines say “it’s time”; and to ship 40,000 cases (or 40% of their production) to the United States. Notable developments on the occasion of my recent visit were the enhanced quality of their reserve level wines as well as outstanding performances with Pinot Gris. The wines on which I report below include some of those currently in the marketplace or about to appear, but most of the 2004s and 2005s will not be released for 1-3 more years. By the time early October rains struck in 2005, the team here had harvested everything other than their top Riesling. Yet, even though some of their most striking successes were picked unusually early, the upper-tier Rieslings here seem to have suffered neither dilution nor obscurant botrytis. The Trimbachs clearly rolled with any punches nature administered in 2004 (although by the time they harvested, abundant initial bunches had morphed into low yields), delivering Riesling of startling clarity and concentration that showcases its minerality and acidity. But in view of so much negative rot, they declined to attempt any nobly sweet selections. Importer: Esprit Du Vin French Wine Merchants & Select European Estates, 48 Harbor Park Drive, Port Washington, NY 11050; www.edvwines.com