2013 Domaine Weinbach, Riesling “Cuvee Theo” Le Clos des Capucins, Alsace, France.
Weinbach’s brilliant Cuvee Theo Riesling is a thrilling dry estate wine that highlights this ancient terroir with layers of crisp detail and pretty flavors, it is vibrant and lengthy making for a lovely white of refined class and flair. The lightness and grace gives way to a medium bodied wine with some air with white flowers, lime, peach and tangerine leading the way on the palate along with unique hints of golden fig, mineral tones, wet stone and quince. This Domaine is based at the 9th century Abbey and the Clos is 5 Hectares, and the holdings also include top sites in the region with some impressive vines in the Grand Crus Schlossberg, Altenbourg and Furstentum, as well as other plots that make up the base for the basic Vins d’Alsace offerings making for a total of 30 Hectares. Domaine Weinbach, run by Catherine Faller, is an all organic estate and has been biodynamic since 1998 with Ghislain Berthiot making the wines, since the death of Cathrine’s sister Laurence Faller and Catherine’s son Theo Leiber-Faller taking care of the vineyards. The Estate wines are aged in old large cask and have a mostly dry essence, like this Cuvee Theo Riesling, though they also do off dry and ultra luxurious Grand Crus and Vendanges Tardive that take the sweetness to about Auslese levels. All these wines impress and this 2013 Cuvee Theo really delivers the goods, I adore this wine, thank you Lee Lightfoot for sharing this wine with our tasting group, and have long been a fan of this Domaine, it’s great to see they have overcome the tragic loss of Laurence, plus the loss of Catherine’s mother Colette, recently as well. This Alsace star will drink nicely for many years to come with it’s sultry substance and vivid acidity, even from a less than perfect vintage this is a class act, and it reminds me to cherish more of these regions wines!
($36 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive
