2011 Schieferkopf Lieu-dit Buehl

Domaine Schieferkopf’s 2011 Riesling Buehl displays a remarkable, high-toned and pungent nose of lemon and tangerine oils; peppermint; musky, narcissus-like perfume; and a hint of primary yeastiness, for an effect that’s bracing and quite Muscat-like. Firm in feel, infectiously juicy, and finishing with zesty invigoration, vibrant interplay, and a focus and clarity especially admirable in terms of its vintage, this should provide some serious thrills through at least 2022. And yes, as with its 2010 counterpart, there does indeed seem to be a certain stony undertone one might choose to associate with wet slate; but above all, there is some of the dynamic one associates with such soils on the Mosel or the Nahe. Michel Chapoutier crushed his first Alsace grapes in 2009. His vineyards around the tiny hamlets of Bernardville and Reichsfeld, cultivated since the Middle Ages when they were developed by Cistercian monks, are situated just southwest of Andlau – the wines being for now vinified in a rented facility in nearby Barr – and include the sole blue slate vein in Alsace, for which the domaine is named. There are currently seven largely contiguous hectares (17 acres) of vines. Chapoutier’s right-hands, Pierre-Henri Morel and Guillaume Deschepper, also have responsibilities for operations here, with Jerome Ledit as on-site manager. Vinification is in tank and aging thereafter for the most part in foudre. The 2010s underwent malolactic during the spring following their harvest and were bottled in December, 2011 whereas the 2011s were permitted a second winter in cask. The estate’s vines are impressively situated and now being impeccably groomed, inter-planted and expanded (not to mention converted to biodynamic culture) as one would expect given Chapoutier’s ambitious practices in other growing regions. It apparently strikes him – as it did me after touring and tasting – that there will be ample room for expansion and excitement just within this little-known sector, without acquiring shares in Bas Rhin vineyards whose reputations are already well-established. Wine was rendered under the Schieferkopf label in 2009 from contract fruit off of the celebrated Kastelberg and Wiebelsberg, but that arrangement was thereafter terminated. Importer: Terlato Wines International, Lake Bluff, IL; tel. (847) 604-8900