2009 Trimbach Riesling

I don’t know why people don’t drink more Riesling. It’s such a versatile grape that, perhaps more than any other, really reflects the region it comes from. Super sweet, barely sweet, or bone dry, Riesling can be found that trumps any dessert wine imaginable or be as refreshing and crisp as a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, and yet the grape, no matter what the style, still shines through.

Tonight’s wine, 2009 Trimbach Riesling from the Alsace AOC in France, is in the bone dry camp, with crisp, bracing acidity and minerality, almost steely flint in the finish. Unfortunately, tonight’s wine was not at its peak, there was a bit of lemon and apple, but overall, it is now starting to lose its fruit. I know this because I drank this same wine a handful of times last year and can taste the decline. It is still relatively balanced but I do not know for how much longer. If you’ve got a bottle, drink up. And if you are looking at Trimbach Rieslings in a store, get a younger vintage, the 2010s should be drinking perfectly right now.