2000 Altenberg de Bergheim
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Tasting notes
On the palate, this gorgeously expansive offering is thick, medium-bodied, lush, and elegant. A profound wine, it is immensely powerful yet graceful and harmonious. Armed with a huge depth of fruit, its personality exhibits honeyed tea, mineral, white fruit, juniper berry, clove, raspberry, and peach flavors that linger interminably. Prodigiously balanced and densely-packed, this gem has the capacity to age for twenty years or more. In recent years Jean-Michel Deiss has called this wine "Grand Vin de l'Altenberg de Bergheim" yet has now changed it to "L'Altenberg de Bergheim", the name adopted by the consortium of this vineyard's owners who have agreed to make field blend from this grand cru. Deiss's 2000 reveals intricate spiced pear and peach aromas.Projected maturity: 2005-2025. According to Deiss, "2000 was a vintage of great weather, yet one that carries with it problems of balance, like all great vintages. Some will consider these wines as too rich and having too much alcohol or residual sugar." He added that "2001 presented us with climatic chaos but the end result is as great as 2000." Deiss, a bio-dynamic farmer, stressed that he never chaptalizes his wines, including the reds. Importer: New Castle Imports, Inc., Myrtle Beach, SC; tel. (843) 448-9463
Critic scores
Average Score
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
Pierre Rovani
More reviews and scores
Flamboyant aromas of lime, minerals, flowers and mint. Extremely dense and dusty; boasts an amazingly chewy, tactile quality. In fact, this extraordinary wine, despite its 80 grams per liter residual sugar, seemed almost dry next to the tokay SGN from the same vineyard. Already shows incredible inner-mouth complexity. Clings to the palate in a way that few wines from Alsace, or from anywhere else, can match.