2004 Zind-Humbrecht "Brand" Riesling Alsace Grand Cru Vendange Tardive (375ml)

Apricot preserves, candied violets, licorice, marzipan, rowan, gardenia, white raisin, and tangerine mark both the nose and palate of the 2004 Riesling Brand Vendange Tardive, a wine of enormous botrytized ripeness, high acidity, and low alcohol, but in none of these respects quite as extreme as the Clos Windsbuhl. Here there is already elegance, refinement and lift, a ravishing combination of textural richness and palpable extract with delicacy and buoyancy, and an extraordinarily clear, pure finish with a mineral dimension as unmistakable as it is ineffable. Compared with the Clos Windsbuhl, the density here is allied to more winsome creaminess of texture (with patisserie-like flavors of vanilla cream and marzipan), and the finish - while no less penetrating and fresh - caries an intricate interplay of flavors and is not at all severe. This breathtakingly beautiful Riesling is too complex and ravishing today to tell you “wait!- but it can certainly be safely followed for a quarter century. (DS)