I had always thought such wines were for short-term consumption. As such, I enjoyed their citrus acidic fresh taste. However, with a recent meal at Ojeffso's place, he pulled a 1992 Gewut that was absolutely delicious! I had no idea that they could age so well and smooth out into a lovely wine.

Am I the only one that didn't know this? OJ said they can age like white burgandies. That was certainly news to me.

GATC has mentioned this before. This was news to me when he mentioned that, too.

rr-not all can age like burgundies. it depends on the producer. the one we drank was a grand cru from zind-humbrecht.

Aged Gewurzt is very dependant on the balance of alcohol and sugar, much like ageworthy rielsing. This is often limited to singular producers and quality fruit (much like any wine worthy of cellar time) however, some Gewurzt can become more oilly and bitter as it developes, this is often due to higher alcohol and lesser acid and sugar, which according to some I've spoken to is a problem amongst the notoriously hard grape Gewurzt.

As a grape it is a pain in the butt to grow. It is suceptible to rot, wind dammage, rain and being under ripe. Considering the problems associated with it it is amazing how many people endevour to produce quality product.

Good point ojeffso2. There are always a lot of factors, but the best rieslings can age very well. For example, in Terry Theise catalog, for Muller-Catoir (one of the best estates) he list the drinking range as follows:

2001 Haardter Burgergarten Riesling Kabinett (4-14 years)
2001 Haardter Burgergarten Riesling Spatlese (8-25 years)

2001 Haardter Mandelring Scheurebe Spatlese (3-13 years)
2001 Kurt Darting Durkheimer Nonnengarten Rieslaner Auslese(8-27 years)

The spatlese for the Burgergarten ages much better than the kabinett, as expected. I'm sure the auslese for this would be listed as drinking best between 12-30 years).

Note that the life span for the scheurebe is much less than the riesling. But the 2001 Kurt Darting Durkheimer Nonnengarten Rieslaner Auslese is best between 8-27 years, so a rieslaner (a hybrid of riesling and another grape that I can't remember at this point) ages almst as well as a riesling.

Although my 1971's are long gone, but people say that the auslesen from that vintage are drinking beautifully now. Of course, 1971 was a fantastic year.

BTW, I'm up to 25.5 cases of the 2001's - 95+% futures. They are coming in so, I'm in trouble.

Does that mean you're going to want some taken off your hands?

RawReds, no. I just bought another case just now and found that I had bought 2 cases that I didn't write down. So I'm up to 28.5 cases. I will buy more later (Kabinett's, QBA's, estate rieslings for everyday drinking in the $8-14 range later). I am only getting the ones that will not be around later. I figure that there will not be another great vintage like this for 15-30 years. I usually drink a bottle of riesling a week. I drink 1/4th one day and put the rest in (3) 187ml bottles and put them in the frig. Rieslings hold up very well this way. I only drink other wines about once every 2 weeks (which is not good since I have around 800 bottles of other wines).

lol. FINE!

Rawreds -- key word in your post: "acidic."

Alsatian Rieslings, Gewurtztraminers, and Tokay Pinot Gris from good producers age well, and in good vintages, age VERY well.

Besides Zind-Humbrecht, look for Domaine Weinbach, Marcel Deiss, and at a somewhat lower price, Domaine Schoffit, Albert Boxler and Albert Mann. Especially with their vineyard-designated wines (usually Grand Cru), their wines improve clearly over the short term, say 3-6 years, and sometimes (esp. the later-harvest designated) exceptionally over 10+ years.

Seaq-- thanks for the post. Always learn something new (names of other producers that is). I love the wines of Alsace.