Professional Reviews
Robert Parker
Details
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Grape Variety
Pinot Gris
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Vintage
1994
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Size
750ml
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Farming Practice
Biodynamic
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Sweetness
Sweet
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Body
Full Bodied
Flatiron Wines & Spirits NY
RP
98
"The 1994 Tokay-Pinot Gris Rotenberg V.T. is a medium dark golden-colored wine, with high levels of botrytis and alcohol, awesome richness and thickness, and a chewy, unctuous palate that finishes with slight to moderate sweetness. It needs 4-5 years of cellaring, but it should keep for 25-30. I tasted four Vendange Tardive Pinot Gris offerings from the Domaine Zind-Humbrecht in 1994. Almost all were made from yields that averaged one-half to just over a ton of fruit per acre! Their alcohol levels are in the 15%+ range. Readers should recognize that all of these wines take concentration, extract, intensity, alcohol, purity, and mouth-savoring characteristics to the maximum. In short, they represent the essence of great winemaking - tiny yields from profoundly well-placed vineyards, spectacular concentration and balance, and the potential for 25-30+ years of ageability. Depending on the level of acidity (unusually high in this vintage) these wines taste off-dry rather than moderately sweet. To reiterate, only the greatest Montrachets from Burgundy attain this stature. And if the truth be known, these wines are richer and more ageworthy than most Montrachets. With respect to the recently released wines, Olivier Humbrecht stated that he had never seen such intensely ripe Pinot Gris with such high levels of acidity." -Robert Parker