Hooray! One of my few victories in identifying one of the wines we have at home blind--I had this one pegged as an Alsace Pinot Gris pretty easily and strongly suspected it was Kreydenweiss (though I had pretty good odds--1/3--for the producer). Got the year wrong though . . .
2004 Marc Kreydenweiss Alsace Moenchberg Grand Cru Pinot Gris Le Moine (Alsace Grand Cru AOC, Andlau, Alsace, France) 14% – (biodynamic)
DAY ONE: appears deep yellow, super reflective, young, what color—I don’t run into this color too often, smell sweeter tones, honey, late harvest, dried apricot, concentrated nice nose, a bit playful, mouthfeel thick coating, bit oily, great balance, flows, taste full of flavor, unripe fruit, grape skins, soft and rounded, bits of spice, trashy elements on mid-palate, less sweet than nose, big tasty wine, the most remarkable thing on day one was the finish, it was a pleasantly lively finish that lasted well over a minute on the palate, it was interesting on day one.
DAY TWO: everything present that had been present on day one, but now it is melded into a complete whole, elegant and composed, nothing stood out and it worked out as a great background wine—it really was complete; I really hoped to pair this wine with food, but had a pork strike-out: it simply did not work with some delicious pork chops (with my mom’s excellent recipe for keeping them moist—pan fry then oven roast) on day one and similarly did not pair with a pork loin roast on day two, passable with the apple sauce, but better on its own; I liked the wine, but did not love it, for 20 euros, I wonder if I would have been better off to leave it alone for a while.
From producer: Moenchberg Grand Cru Le moine: The Pinot Gris grape variety is ideally suited to this terroir rich in glacial deposits. Glaciers have flattened the hillsides to form this beautiful south-facing basin sheltered from the wind; this was the area that the Benedictine monks from the Altdorf Abbey chose to grow their vines in 1097 (moench = monk and berg = mountain). MOENCHBERG produces a powerful wine with delicious aromas of acacia honey, dried fruit, nuts and quince. Extremely pure, with lovely length on the palate, the wine combines fullness and distinction. Area: 67 acres. Production: 300 cases