Mango peach and pineapple notes are layered with hints of orange candy cherry pit basil and earth in this intriguing wine. The silky texture sits on a medium-bodied frame with bright acidity for balance that leads to a long mouthwatering finish. Drink now through 2035. 45 cases made. -BS

If you regard the level of ripeness exhibited by Zind-Humbrecht's Heimbourg Pinot Gris S.G.N. as formidable then consider that the 2005 Gewurztraminer Heimbourg Selection de Grains Nobles (from the lowest most-protected portion of that vineyard) made it all the way to 12% alcohol and still retains 240 grams of residual sugar! Here too the level of acidity was exceptionally high by any standard. "The only drawback" remarks Humbrecht "is that the production is only 1000 half bottles from a hectare." Exhibiting more peach and apricot preserve yet paradoxically slightly less litchi or brown spice in the nose than the corresponding Pinot Gris this also offers a honeyed candied pink grapefruit note reminiscent of Scheurebe. In the mouth one is confronted with a viscous elixir so intense and sweet it almost blinds one to flavor or textural nuance. The overall impression is somewhat candied but there is still levity thanks to powerful acidity. Butterscotch and anise join the honey-drenched caramelized peach apricot and litchi in a sweet finish that followed me even when it was high time to get on with tasting the next wine! Not only is this likely to flourish for a quarter century or more in the bottle I really wouldn't care to revisit it for at least a decade by which time the sweetness will have toned down and the flavors and textures will become more differentiated - and probably downright magical.