Murlé bad

Frick 2005 Gewurztraminer Rot-Murlé (Alsace) – An intriguing combination of the deadening weight of an overripe gewurztraminer and the weedy, fetid swamp aroma of an underripe one. That’s an accomplishment. (3/10)

Gollum

Pierre Frick 2002 Pinot Blanc “Cuvée Précieuse” (Alsace) – Thick apricot with an incredibly dense texture that feels and tastes sugary, though I don’t think there’s much of any residual sugar here. Light oxidation only adds complexity. A really delicious wine, though one would be hard-pressed to identify it as pinot blanc. The next day, it has turned dark brown (it is sans soufre, after all), though this has no apparent affect on the organoleptics, which remain as the day before. (4/09)

Frick & frack

Frick 2005 Muscat (Alsace) – Muscat through a filter, with its perfumes and exotica dominated by a firm acidic core. Dry. This would all be fine, except that within an hour of opening the wine rather rapidly oxidizes, turning absolutely undrinkably so by hour two. I want to like this producer, given the admirable vineyard work, but wine after wine is, for me, a massive disappointment. Or, like this, an abject failure…though of course, other bottles may perform differently (such are the blessings and curses of “natural” wines). (10/08)

A valuable lesson

Frick 2002 Pinot Blanc “Cuvée Précieuse” (Alsace) – Organic, biodynamic, no sulfur, from a hill above the Vorbourg. This has absolutely nothing to do with pinot blanc or Alsace (other than the fact that the words are on the label), and instead has everything to do with the sort of “forward-to-the-past” adventurism seen at, say, Radikon…among whose wines this would not seem even a little out of place. Rapidly darkening towards brass (though to be fair, that’s not an unusual thing to see in a five-year-old pinot blanc), heavy, and somewhat oxidized – again in the “good” way, though it strips any remaining varietal character from the wine – with a solid, thudding, and thundering assault of dried-out stone fruit and hollowed-out acacia logs. A really fascinating wine, though I’m very much at a loss as to whether I should credit the result or not. The first sips are immediately compelling to those familiar with this style (and, based on my dinner guests’ reactions, repellent to those who aren’t), but even to the enthusiastic the weight and ponderous hectoring of the wine eventually grow wearisome. (3/08)