Domaine Bernhard & Reibel Riesling  "Coup de Foudre" 2005, A.C. Alsace. **HERITAGE WINE**

Color: very light green-yellow.
Nose: expressive, very fresh, piquant, with some richness, herbs (hops), flowers, minerals, honey, gooseberries and a touch of smoke, very clean and clear style, great purity and very Riesling.
Taste: dry, very fresh, piquant with scintillating acidity, minerals, white fruit, some richness, a tiny and attractive hint of sweetness, crystalline purity, good intensity, excellent balance.
Finish: long, quite intense, very fresh, but also soft (very little sweetness), with minerals, herbs, very clean and pure, very good balance.

* A textbook Riesling with all the invigorating freshness, minerals, herbs, white fruit, honey and some richness this grape can provide. A scintillating acidity is the core of this refreshing wine with its crystalline purity and great balance. It may lack the class and depth of a Grand Cru, but at this price this superb eco-wine is a real bargain!

- Already delicious now, will be great drinking during 2007, but will not gain much from aging; its the sheer freshness and purity that makes it so irresistible. When maturity comes with "firne" or petrolly-aroma's I doubt this wine has enough substance and richness to  develop harmoniously. Drink before 2009.

- Too often Alsatian Rieslings are produced in a too sweet and rich style, trying to make them easier to appreciate. A great waste of potential, because as this wine clearly shows, Riesling can offer a unique quality. The minerally freshness and crystal clear nuances of herbs, flowers and white fruit compose a zesty wine so refreshing and light, but at the same time so strong and cleansing it makes an excellent partner with several dishes (not only Alsatian). It is nice to drink a good Pinot Gris, but it is a great loss if you do not know how a good Riesling tastes like. Try this wine and experience you have been missing all those years.

- lotnr.: L                       same wine with alternative label: "Pierre Bernard"

- tasted: 05-12-’06

- estimated retail price ca. 8 euro

- average production: ca. 7.000  bottles

- Domaine Bernhard & Reibel Eàrl., 20 Rue de Lorraine, 67730 Châtenois, tel.: + 33-388 82 04 21 / fax.: + 33-388 82 59 65 / e-mail: bernhard-reibel@wanadoo.fr, web site: www.domaine-bernhard-reibel.fr