Pinot Blanc d’Alsace 2010, Domaine Charles Baur (gold medal winner)

The Baur family have been in Eguisheim since the early 18^th century.  Charles Baur (1920-2001) began bottling and selling the wine produced from his single hectare of vines in 1950 and gradually extended his estate acquiring individually chosen parcels of vines in and around Eguisheim. 



Charles Baur on his way back from the harvest in 1950

 Today the estate is run by Charles’ son Armand and grandson Arnaud, the latter having joined his father after completing his degree in agricultural engineering, specialising in winegrowing and oenology. 

Armand & Arnaud Baur

Today the estate cultivates 16 hectares of vineyards around Eguisheim where the soil is limestone and clay and the steep slopes, protected by the Vosges mountains, capture the ripening rays of the sun perfectly.  All their grapes are hand-picked, hand-sorted and gently pressed in a modern, pneumatic press.  Fermentation begins with natural yeasts at low temperature to ensure freshness and concentration.  The wines are then matured on their lees for several months.



Eguisheim

Pinot Blanc is the white incarnation of Pinot Noir; both varieties are ampelographically identical.  Once thought to be Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc was agreed as a different variety in 1896.  Its leaves are full and dark green and the grapes grow in smallish bunches with the grapes themselves being quite small.  It tastes different to Chardonnay and is ideal for the conditions in Alsace.  Interestingly, there are still small parcels and individual vines here and there in Burgundy, so the confusion of yore still has ghosts down there too.

Domaine Charles Baur

In 2010 Domaine Charles Baur produced one of the best Pinot Blanc d'Alsace we have ever tasted.  We are not alone in our belief since the wine won the gold medal in the Concours des Vins d’Alsace in 2011.  Their attention to detail makes this wine a shining example of its type.  Sure, there are less expensive examples of Pinot Blanc, but rarely have we encountered one of such purity and concentration.  It is a fine example of the Wines of Interest philosophy that it is often worth paying a little more to obtain something that is significantly superior.

The wine has a rich, concentrated nose with hints of pear, apricot and blossom.  In the mouth it is lively yet concentrated with aromatic, ripe fruit and a long finish, with cleansing acidity to refresh.

This wine is perfect with posh fish dishes, seafood, cold meats and salads or could equally be enjoyed as an aperitif or on its own in the warmth of a summer evening.  Perfect!  Order 2011 Pinot Blanc from Domaine Charles Baur here where you can also view everything else we currently have from Alsace.

Gold Medal? So What!

Walking through town today I passed a pub advertising “Award Winning Wines” and I wondered whether anyone has ever looked at this and thought “Award winning eh?  I’ll pop in for a glass!”

I suppose some see a certain reassurance from a medal on a bottle, but (remember the Emperor who placed such trust in the opinions of others that his new clothes showed him to be a fool?) placing exclusive trust in wine awards can be misguided.  Why are we so frequently unprepared to make our own minds up?

In 1980 the Olympic Games were held in Moscow.  The previous year Soviet troops had marched into Afghanistan and the United States decided they didn’t want to play, along with Japan, West Germany, China, the Philippines, Argentina and Canada.  The UK supported the boycott but said its athletes could compete if they so wished.  Allan Wells competed won the men’s 100m fast running thingy.  He has a gold medal to show for his efforts but I’ve often wondered whether he would have won had the Yanks turned up?  This is purely hypothetical of course; on the day he was the fastest man in the world and nobody can dispute that.

Wine competitions are different in that so much is subjective but, like Allan Wells, wines can only compete against the other entrants and there are thousands of wine producers who don’t go anywhere near the competitions for very good reasons.  One producer’s response was to say “I already sell all the wine I make and I have a loyal following.  Why would I want to enter a competition?  If my wines do well I increase demand yet I cannot make any more wine.  All I will do is annoy my existing customers. It’s a waste of time and money for me.”

Other producers believe (correctly) that they make wines of such individuality that they would probably not be understood by the competition judges.  Is this why mass-produced “commercial” wines win so many awards? They certainly seem to dominate the entries, they do not tend to create strong opinions one way or the other, which means that hardly anyone actively dislikes them and they would welcome any increase in demand because it’s easy enough to let the tap on the end of the production pipe run off a few more thousand cases.

I was once asked if I would be interested to join the judges of a major wine competition but it transpired that I was required to attend a course to make sure that I came to the same conclusions that the other judges did.  I thought this would be unwise for someone who had been in the trade as long as I had when what they really wanted was more of a blank canvas to “clone”.  I thought my Mother-in-Law would be a good choice.

One skill that we should all develop is the ability to differentiate between that which we like (or dislike) and that which is good (or poor).  I recall having a major disagreement with a trade customer once who simply could not grasp this difference, pronouncing one of our wines as “disgusting” (which is certainly wasn’t) instead of recognising that she just didn’t like it (not the same thing at all).  This concept applies to many things in life as well; theatre, music, writing, food, even people.  The pub that this lady ran eventually went out of business, so it wasn’t just that I didn’t like her…

I have a lot of time for people with opinions of their own.  This is largely because they have obviously thought about something deeply enough to formulate an opinion.  I can disagree with them if I so wish, but at least the way is clear.  It should be the same with wine but so frequently drinkers end up with characterless alcoholic fruit juice because that is what the producer (and frequently competition judges) find least inoffensive.  It’s so much better to have wines with strong personalities that force you one way or another towards either total admiration or a preference for something else.  Only with wines like this will drinking them be truly memorable.  After all, what fun is there in you constantly drinking hooch that someone else says is good without knowing why?

We reckon every wine in our shop is good, but we would not guarantee that everyone will like them all.  But that’s the fun of it!