Two more highlights from this week’s press tasting at Majestic: a couple of lovely Alsace whites from Schlumberger.
I love these wines, and at the offer price they are a steal. But they illustrate why Alsace remains a nightmare for consumers. One is dry, the other quite sweet. But nowhere is this indicated on the bottle. And both bottles are very similar looking. Of course, no back label.
Domaines Schlumberger Riesling ‘Les Princes Abbés’ 2009 Alsace
A stylish, nicely textured dry Riesling with bold citrus fruits and some melony richness. Rounded texture with a long, spicy finish. Lovely example of Alsace Riesling. 91/100 (£13.99 Majestic, but £10.99 each if you buy 2 bottles)
Domaines Schlumberger Gewürztraminer ‘Les Princes Abbés’ 2009 Alsace
Sweet, open nose is grapey with some turkish delight character. Off-dry, fat textured palate with lovely smooth, sweet fruit. It flirts with flabbiness, but gets away with it. Delicious, characterful and varietally true. 92/100 (£15.99 Majestic, but £12.99 each if you buy 2)
Hi Jamie,
Am intrigued; the wines that we ship from Schlum do have a back label & recent vintages also include a scale on the back to give an indication of sweetness as well which is a really sensible initiative IMHO. Can’t think why these wouldn’t have the same…
Cheers – Jon
Hi all,
Just an explanation and confirmation from Domaines Schlumberger:
Those 2 wines do have a back label and sugar scale.
Our first shippment included some samples for photo shooting without this precious information but the regular assortment will of course give all the deatils.
Thank you for the tasting notes. Let’s enjoy some nice Gewurz and Rielsing from Domaines Schlumberger !
Thomas Schlumberger