We visited Jean-Pierre in Pfaffenheim during a trip to Alsace in the summer of 2021. You may well know that the 2021 was a washout for most of the region, with yields decimated because of mildiou. Not only that, but our visit came only days after JP’s son Thomas decided to split from the family business and break away on a project of his own. The wines were singing but Jean-Pierre was not on his best form. As a result, it didn’t feel right to write up the visit here on the blog.
We did, however, stock up on as many bottles as we could bring through Switzerland to take home with us and they have since been tucked away in the wine cellar, occasionally calling to me like mythical sirens luring in thirsty sailors. There’s no rush to drink any of the Frick wines – they are built to last – so I do feel rather guilty when I find myself giving into the temptation.
I don’t know what it is about winter – and in particular these three days which are called the giorni della merla and are supposedly the coldest of the year – but it makes me want to drink aged Alsatian white wines. I hankered for a Yann Durrmann riesling back in 2017. Yesterday I reached for a bottle of Jean-Pierre Frick’s Auxerrois 2018.
Needless to say, it’s delicious. Jean-Pierre’s wines are characterised by a vitality that is undeniable, an energy that only a magician could conjure, and a drinkability that is verging on dangerous for my bank balance. It is very slightly cloudy, but the nose is clean and inviting, slightly herbal and medicinal. I love the texture of this wine too; it’s both sumptuous and salty. At first it envelops your mouth with a burst of flavour – ripe grapes, juicy mirabelles, and just a touch of sage – then the salinity comes through causing the middle of my tongue to tingle.
A curiousity if you’re not familiar with these wines: Jean-Pierre made the decision “starting with the 2002 vintage” according to Decanter to bottle all his wines under crown caps. You normally see this type of bottle closure on lightly sparkling wines (col fondo or pet nats, for example) or on bottles of beer. It’s cheap, easy, but a controversial choice for a quality winemaker.
“One bottle in ten does not remain true to the original wine that was put in bottle, because of the cork closure.” That’s the claim on the back label of the bottle. Between TCA cork taint and other sometimes barely perceptible alterations due to imperfections in the natural cork, that number feels about right. It’s fair also to mention that 98% of Cremants and Champagnes are put under crown cap until their degorgement, but, what I haven’t got my head around yet is if the stainless steel crown cap allows for more or less oxygen to reach the wine compared to other more traditional closures. My experience with Stefano Bellotti’s Semplicemente line (three still wines – a white, a red and a pink – also under crown caps) several years ago makes me a little wary of premature oxydation… But, here in this case, there is not even the faintest glimmer of oxydation. The wine is, effectively, in a perfectly pure condition.
Tasted on 28th and 29th January 2024
Price €€
Score **** maybe even *****
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