Jean Boxler – is there no limit to this man’s vinous adroitness?

Whenever I have been lucky enough to taste chez Boxler it has always been the Rieslings that I have wanted to secure as my own. Consequently, when looking at the wines we purchased last summer I was rather surprised to see we had procured a six-pack of Grand Cru Brand Gewurztraminer. We buy Gewurztraminer vanishingly rarely.

Given that the Brand Grand Cru is one of the warmest vineyards in Alsace, 2008 was a ripe vintage and Gewurztraminer does have a tenancy to get rather blowsy you may be expecting me to savage this wine for being too hot and unbalanced. Not a bit of it! This is a deeply harmonious wine that offers refined pleasures to cogitate upon.

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Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Brand 2008, Domaine Albert Boxler

OK, I’ll admit it is ripe, yet the fruit character is far from being stewed or lacking anything in terms of energetic freshness. There is a very satisfying degree of restraint to this nose, it is not giving its charms away cheaply to anyone who just fancies dipping in – you’ve got to engage your faculties to get its full-delivery of shimmering style. I love the creamy stoniness it shows, it is an impressively mineral Gewurztraminer. This is class. By arse it is staggeringly acidic on the palate; Gewurz is just not like this. But acid is good, what is the fun in being naughty in a dissolute manner if there is no spanking at the end? The fruit is ripe and charged with sophistication thanks to its deeply pronounced minerality. And I really, really love that acidity. It is simply stupefying that this wine is so startlingly mouth-watering. The balance is spot on and, for all its complexity and opulence, it is one hell of an enjoyable drink. We did well to get that six-pack. No rush to drink, but then again it is rather spiffing right about now.