A stunning Alsace Riesling

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I’m very pleased to be drinking this. Not only do I love Boxler wines but also given my luck with Alsace Riesling recently I am very glad it is not the slightest bit oxidised and is in absolutely top condition. The L31DII designation was only used in the 2002 vintage for a plot of his oldest vines on a sector of the Sommerberg Grand Cru that has a unique soil type in the Grand Cru. The difference between the L31D (which appears every vintage) and the L31DII is just matter of how ripeness, the ripest grapes going into the L31DII. How do we know it is an L31DII? Look at the top-left corner of the label and squint at the tiny characters there.

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Riesling Grand Cru Sommerberg ‘L31DII’ 2002, Domaine Albert Boxler

There is real power on the nose, all of that gorgeous ripe fruit and stunning creamy minerality give this an impression of scale. You can smell the old vines concentration and by all that is evil this has the nose of stylish wine that simply oozes class. Good as smelling it is, it is not enough; I must drink! The palate is big, with weight and density but also some of the most frighteningly high acid levels I’ve experienced in Alsace Riesling outside of the more linear Trimbach wines. Wow, that acidity is quite serious. The minerality seems rich and powerful and there is a excellent concentration of fruit. Despite its size there is no question that the balance is anything other than superb. It is beginning to mature but there is no rush to drink this wine, it’ll be around for a while yet. I am totally compelled and generally smitten with yet another dazzling wine made by the great Jean Boxler. Please never do a Deiss and lose your winemaking marbles, M. Boxler.

Brilliant, I tell you. Stunningly, mind-warpingly, lewdly brilliant.

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