Alsace Cru Blanc Grasberg Marcel Deiss 2010 (750ML)

92 Points, Ian D'Agata, Vinous: " Bright pale yellow. Lemon and butter on the nose, along with nuances of rose water, flowers and smoke; showing less noble rot character than the 2011. Juicy and fruit-driven, with rich, ripe apricot, peach and papaya flavors that offer compelling sweetness and clarity. A fairly sizable wine with a long, minerally finish." 11/12

93 Points, David Schildknecht, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: "Striking, high-toned aromas of maraschino, pistachio and mirabelle distillate in the Deiss 2010 Grasberg put me in mind of previous renditions from this site and field-blend that favors Riesling, Pinot Gris and Traminer variants. Tingling pineapple informs its firm yet lusciously juicy palate, leading to a long, supportively sweet finish featuring the invigorating interaction of chalk, white pepper, orange and lemon zests, and nut extracts with peach and pineapple. Look for this beauty to perform impressively through at least 2025. ”The vintage is not a reliable partner of the vintner,” declares Jean-Michel Deiss. “Rather, it is every year an obstacle. You have to bank on your terroir.” It’s certainly easy to understand such an attitude when confronted with two such dissimilarly tricky vintages as 2010 and 2011, in which Deiss also credits the stabilizing influence of his terroir and vine management in his having “harvested significantly more wine than my colleagues in 2010 and significantly less in 2011.” Apropos the faithlessness of the growing season and of vintage character, Deiss is wont to interject whenever I effuse over the scents emanating from one of his bottlings that aroma, too, is capricious and unfaithful. “I’m seeking to create wines for the mouth, not the nose” he says." 08/14