Albert Boxler Pinot Gris Sommerberg, Alsace Grand Cru, France

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A butcher shop-like aura of smoked and potted meats mingles with ripe peaches, nearly overripe musk melon, and cinnamon on the nose of Boxler’s 2009 Pinot Gris Sommerberg, all of which migrate to a glycerin-rich, full, and decidedly sweet palate. For all of its lushness and sweetness, this retains a welcome finishing sense of primary juiciness. But I would not plan on holding it to the point where its sweetness would begin to back-off; rather, I’d drink it over the next 5-7 years. Jean Boxler relates that in 2009 he picked some parcels of young wines early due to stress, then sold off the juice; and any under 15 years’ age he didn’t even bother to pick. Eventually, when he harvested his older vines and best sites, the sugar levels were the same – but not the flavors. He deftly charted a course with most of the resulting wines between alcohol and residual sugar, but to the extent it was unavoidable, sinned on the side of sweetness. From 2008, almost predictably given the track record at this address, Boxler rendered sharply focused, minerally complex, yet seductively fruit-filled wines that should prove excellent both as keepers and as partners with cuisine. Boxler compares these wines with his 2002s and finds then “definitely more interesting than the 2001s.” While most of the 2008s finished fermenting already by Christmas – which is par for the course chez Boxler – he points out that several of the extraordinary wines from the Brand lingered into spring. (For some detail on among other things Boxler’s different Riesling parcels, see my report in issue 188.)Importer: Robert Chadderdon Selections, New York, NY; tel. (212) 757-8185

Peach, quince preserves, and marzipan dominate the nose and creamy, faintly lactic, caramel-tinged palate of Boxler’s 2008 Pinot Gris Sommerberg. Tasting this on the heels – or should I say, “the very long coattails”? – of the corresponding Brand is almost unfair, as it comes off as more predictably Pinot Gris than Sommerberg in character and its sweetness as more obvious. Still, taken on its own terms, this is a succulent, sumptuous, if slightly confectionary expression of its cepage that ought to last long enough for one to enjoy a slight diminution of its subjective sweetness and probably the emergence of more complexity, perhaps in 12-15 years. Jean Boxler relates that in 2009 he picked some parcels of young wines early due to stress, then sold off the juice; and any under 15 years’ age he didn’t even bother to pick. Eventually, when he harvested his older vines and best sites, the sugar levels were the same – but not the flavors. He deftly charted a course with most of the resulting wines between alcohol and residual sugar, but to the extent it was unavoidable, sinned on the side of sweetness. From 2008, almost predictably given the track record at this address, Boxler rendered sharply focused, minerally complex, yet seductively fruit-filled wines that should prove excellent both as keepers and as partners with cuisine. Boxler compares these wines with his 2002s and finds then “definitely more interesting than the 2001s.” While most of the 2008s finished fermenting already by Christmas – which is par for the course chez Boxler – he points out that several of the extraordinary wines from the Brand lingered into spring. (For some detail on among other things Boxler’s different Riesling parcels, see my report in issue 188.)Importer: Robert Chadderdon Selections, New York, NY; tel. (212) 757-8185

Boxler’s 2007 Pinot Gris Sommerberg is redolent of diverse pit fruits along with smoke, musk, and carnal suggestions of veal sweetbreads (which might make an appropriately indulgent accompaniment!). As in the case of the corresponding generic bottling, this displays surprising amounts of alkaline and saline mineral character as well as citrus (principally pink grapefruit) zest pungency, which are welcome in helping offset the effects of more than 30 grams of residual sugar. Polished, refined, and with impressive finishing cling, it should be worth following for 12-15 years. Jean Boxler emphasizes the contrast between one of the earliest and hastiest harvest ever at his family’s estate – “just three days after I finished bottling the 2005s, and then every day, including Sunday” – in order to salvage clean fruit in 2006; and the protracted harvest of 2007. “In fact,” he explains, “I started in 2006 with the intention of harvesting grapes for cremant, but they were already too ripe.” Thanks to meticulous vineyard practices and early picking, a surprisingly consistent and satisfying collection resulted. “Half the fruit was already on the ground,” he observes, by the time he could pick his best sites. Boxler’s crew knows the difference between good and bad botrytis, he assured me, yet even so, each carried a second bucket into which to drop any fruit about which uncertainty remained, and those lots were subjected to test pressings and severe scrutiny, generally ending up discarded. Boxler’s best 2007s are predictably finer, more structured, and more refined, although the vintage’s superiority is only obvious when it comes to single-vineyard bottlings. “I could live with a vintage like it every year,” he quips. When asked about his aspirations and his role in upholding the reputation of his family’s extraordinary estate, Jean Boxler says he does not want to get any bigger so as to keep complete control, and adds that he doesn’t have a single day free from his vineyards and cellar to go out and sell wine anywhere, so Americans should please not feel offended that he hasn’t – save for a brief, youthful stage in Oregon – ever visited them!Importer: Robert Chadderdon Selections, New York, NY; tel. (212) 757-8185