Flaviens Flav

Kreydenweiss 2001 Vin de Pays des Coteaux Flaviens “Ansata” (Rhône) – Here I pay the price for a lack of confidence, figuring that an Alsatian winemaker won’t necessarily know how to make an ageable Rhône without a lot of practice. Oh, me of little hope. While this is definitely showing some signs of positive development, there’s no hurry to open it. The fruit has smoothed to a Southern Rhônish sheen of herbed strawberry, underbrush, slick leather and hints of bubblegum, but there’s a moderate amount of structure still to resolve (and the acid-averse will probably find more than they’d like here; I think it’s a terrific element that’s too often missing in these wines), and the finish is long and only hints and teases at full tertiary complexity. A fine effort, and a lot of fun at blind tastings (“it’s a red from Marc Kreydenweiss, and it’s not pinot noir…”). (8/07)