I decided to insert a “break wine” in between this one and the sylvaner, because I wanted to drink a red. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a disappointment (perhaps I’ll post about that another time), so we were anxious to get back to Alsatian whites. After a hack job of opening the bottle (I had to fish cork out of both our glasses-- oops!), I poured us each a glass. The wine had the color of bright yellow gold.

I’ve only ever had Pinot Grigio, of the Italian persuasion, but having done my homework, I was expecting something heavier in this Pinot Gris. I’ve seen Italian-style PG described as “crisp” and Alsatian as “luscious”. It was hardly enough of a warning! The wine’s nose was almost overwhelming. It represented nearly all the tropical fruits and in a heavy way. Like a big bowl of tropical fruit salad. I could tell it was both richer and spicier than either of the other Alsatian whites we’d tried thus far. It actually smelled thick and sweet, a little reminiscent of butterscotch!

One sip, and I said “hmmm”... it was absolutely full-bodied in a way unlike any other white wine I’d had before. (Meaning I didn’t hate it, over-oaked chardonnay being my only other full-bodied white wine experience- blech!) I tasted a light caramel flavor mixed with super concentrated stone fruit, like apricots and peaches. And in fact, the wine does have some residual sugar, 14 grams per litre, making it more medium-dry than dry (not sure if I like that as much...). I thought the finish tasted more like almonds, but Myles said it reminded him of sacramental wine and thus he didn’t like the finish. “Cheap” was how he described it. I’ve never had the pleasure of tasting sacramental wine so I didn’t think cheap was accurate, but it certainly was dense!

K&L’s notes come from reviews in Wine & Spirits and Wine Spectator (which scored this wine 92 points and 90 points respectively). My tasting notes seem completely off base compared to theirs. W&S describes it as clean and fresh, tasting of pear, kiwi and citrus (huh?!). While WS does mention peaches and spice (yay!), they also mention acidity, which I didn’t pick up on. I recognized the acidity of the Alsatian riesling right away, and found it thirst-quenching. This wine seemed to coat my mouth with its thickness and subtle sweetness. The notes on Schlumberger’s website seem a bit more in line with my experience.

Don’t get me wrong though- I liked the wine. It was just so unusual! I’d love to taste it next to one of those crisp Italian pinot grigios sometime, just to see. I do think it probably would have been better with food, unfortunately as a nursing mother I’m finding my windows of wine-drinking opportunity seem to be falling before and after dinner, not during.

The score: ★★★½