2015 Gewürztraminer Grand Cru Mambourg Vendanges Tardives Weinbach

An enormously concentrated gewurztraminer that has some creaminess and density from bortrytis. But there is also staggering freshness and energy. A very long finish that is anything but heavy or cloying. Drink or hold. Made from biodynamically grown grapes.

Not yet being approved by the official board of the AVA, the bottled sample of the 2015 Gewurztraminer Mambourg Vendange Tardive has a very clear, intense, mineral and slightly minty flavored bouquet with some greenish notes. Very rich and elegant on the palate, this is an exuberant yet balanced, finessed and tension-filled Gewurz with a lovely grip and mineral expression. The finish is lush and sensual, highly elegant and balanced, as well as complex and firmly structured. This VT has a great potential and it should be an amazing experience to follow it over the next 40-50 years. To be released in September 2017.

Full bright golden yellow. Lime, canned pineapple, roasted banana and mango on the nose and in the mouth, complicated by nutmeg and cinnamon. Very Gewürz, a real benchmark for the VT category. Roughly 35 percent of the grapes were hit by noble rot, while there was apparently surprisingly little _passerillage _for such a hot year and site (the Mabourg is essentially a sun trap). Made from very old vines; at Weinbach, they own three different parcels, and this wine is made from the oldest of the three, at roughly 65 years old (the other two are 15 and 40 years old, respectively). Truly a voluptuous, knockout late-harvest Gewürz.