It had been not years but decades since I last tasted a Dirler sparkling wine, and their 2006 Cremant d'Alsace showed me that had been a mistake on my part. An unusual blend of 40% Pinot Gris, 35% Pinot Noir and 25% Auxerrois, this was - -unfortunately- is how Jean-Pierre Dirler put it - disgorged after only 15 months because the 2005 had run out and needed replacing. While fashionably low in dosage at a mere 3 grams, it suffers no deficiency on that account, and despite the shorter stay on the lees than its author intended, is creamy and bright, sappy and anything but austere, with peach and nut oils, citrus zest and red berry instantly signaling the contributions of each cepage - after you know which they are, that is! This lip-smacker offers yet another instance were this too often mass-produced and mediocre appellation is the occasion for a fine value estate wine. The blend differs considerably year by year, incidentally: The 2007 will contain much less Pinot Noir and correspondingly more Auxerrois. Jean-Pierre Dirler was another of those growers to express delight at the 2007 vintage with its wide window of harvest opportunities, but to have sold off or declassified much of his family's production in 2006. It bears repeating that this estate's international profile is not nearly as high as is the quality of wine that have issued from it routinely since at least the mid-1980s, when I first visited here. I did not, unfortunately, have chance to taste quite the entire 2007 Dirler-Cade collection, and canvassed only a small selection of their in any event diminished number of 2006s.Importer: Robert Chadderdon Selections, New York, NY; tel. (212) 757-8185
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