Again, Alsatian Pinot Blancs are unlikely to be 100% Pinot blanc. I have never had a particularly intriguing one, though I have heard good things about Boxler’s version. Eric Asimov had a pretty good article about pinot blanc a few years ago:
(I am a bit biased, because Asimov’s preference for Austrian PB mirrors my own).
I’m with you on this one. I love good Alsatian wines and some of the best Pinot Blancs I’ve tasted are among some of the greatest white wines I know. However, I can’t remember ever having a particularly memorable or interesting Pinot Blanc from Alsace.
Certainly it has something to do with how Auxerrois (a variety I’m not sure is capable of producing anything of real interest) can be labeled as Pinot Blanc, as well as any grape in the Pinot family as long as it is vinified white. For example it is entirely possible one can have a wine labeled as Pinot Blanc, while it consists of only Auxerrois, Pinot Gris and/or Pinot Noir.
But more likely it is to do with how Pinot Blanc has never been considered a “noble variety” in Alsace, which is why all the best hillside plots are planted to the noble varieties like Riesling, PG, Gewurz and Muscat, and Pinot Blanc is planted mainly in the fertile flatlands.
Alto Adige, on the other hand, is a region that can give a glimpse of the true potential of the variety, as it is considered to be one of the greatest local varieties and some serious top vineyards are planted to Pinot Blanc.
On the subject of Pinot Blanc labeling, anyone ever tried the Pinot Gouges from Henri Gouges (La Perrière)? I’ve always been amused by the story of these vines and wondered what his white was like…
Pinot Gouges is not PB but a Pinot noir-mutation that lost the pigments (an Albino so to say).
I´ve tasted 2 vintages so far - not bad, not better than other NSG blanc (L´Arlot, Rion, Marechale, Chevillon -), a bit idiosyncratic …
the best white NSG is Liger-Belair s Grandes Vignes …
Um, how does this differ from Pinot Blanc?
Pinot Gouges is 100% Pinot Blanc.
This.
It’s just a unique clone that’s different from other Pinot Blanc clones out there. But since Pinot Blanc is a colorless point mutation of Pinot Noir, Pinot Gouges is technically 100% Pinot Blanc.
Au Bon Climat has made a Pinot Pinot… blend of Pinot Gris and Pinot blanc… just gotta a nice write up in The NY Times
Has also made pure Pinot blanc
Also Hildegaard… Pinot blanc, Pinot Gris , aligote
accidental Alsace department:
employee at the local alcohol emporium paid as little attention to stocking the shelf
as i did when unstocking it…
Joseph Cattin in Voegtlinshoffen produces a respectable Riesling, which i buy when the store
is sold out of my favourite litre Grüner Veltlner
such was the case coupla days back when i blew through,
picked two bottles of JC Riesling off the shelf –
imagine my surprise when going from the remains of one to opening the next
– this is screwcapped; it cant be corked – there was no continuity of flavour…
finally looked at the label – Pinot Blanc!
not bad; varietally recognisable, properly vinified, decent wine
shall read labels closely next visit…
Bump for this underrated grape.
I’ve had a couple of vintages of the Gouges and aged them. I had a ‘98 in the early 2010s. It seemed to be slightly tannic at times and had some pinot noir aromas. Oh, and it was very slow to come around… I think I still have a bottle since it seemed sort of frozen in time.
I guess even his Pinot Blanc has the “Gouges touch”… Henri Patience Gouges… it’s his middle name…
You’ve reinforced my curiosity about it though. I will have to try it.
Indeed, I still have one bottle of the '98. Here are notes on the last two bottles:
2007: Hard at first. High acid, some bitterness, but nice oxidative notes at end.
2014: Some faint caramel, probably from oak, but little other development.
That’s exactly what Pinot Blanc is, at least based on the earliest account in Wine Grapes. Later clones may have muted from Pinot Gris, but it’s all Pinot. It seems to me that Pinot Gouges is their specific clone of Pinot Blanc. How is it not?