Boris

JF Becker 2002 Riesling Kronenbourg (Alsace) – Hits like a dull cleaver, delivering a sharp blow but failing at a clean, precise blow. This isn’t to discount the wine’s qualities, which include a round-bellied minerality and a shiny, affable gloss to the finish. But it’s just a touch less precise than the slightly superior 2001. (4/08)

Gentilhombre

JP&F Becker 2004 “Gentil” (Alsace) – Malic steel, such that it tastes like riesling more than anything else. It’s a crisp, wet, juicy, thirst-inducing wine that bears not even the slightest hint of examination, for in truth everything other than the first refreshing burst of acidity, there’s not a whole lot to this wine. I’d happily drink it, but I’m not sure I’d buy it. (3/08)

JP II

JP&JF Becker 2001 Riesling Kronenbourg (Alsace) – A composite note. The first bottle is advanced, with creamier and more oxidative notes in concert with a quartzy mineral spice and flashing whiteness, while the second bottle is much more along expected lines, with firm malic acidity and a fresh, glacial wash over white rocks. Well-stored and with cork intact, this has years yet to go. (7/07)

JP I

JP&F Becker 2005 Riesling (Alsace) – All the riesling notes are here, but they’re vague and tentative, and there’s neither intensity nor elegance, polish nor verve. Becker’s quite capable of interesting, terroir-revelatory rieslings, but at the lower end things are weaker than they should be. This is insubstantial and diffuse, and I doubt it’s going to improve either. (7/07)