Alsatian Pinot Blanc

I'm not a winter person.  I don't ski.  I don't skate.  I spend most of January hibernating...hiding under a warm blanket in my living room, sipping wine by a roaring fire.  Sometimes I stare out the window, forlorn and brooding over thoughts of the sun's rays on my skin, sipping cocktails on the back deck.  My back deck is currently lying under two feet of hard-packed snow.  It will be a few months before we can fire up the barbeque again, but until then, I intend to whine.  

Speaking of wine (ha ha), I recently realized that I had too many bottles of Alsatian white wine in my little cellar, possibly about to languish.  I like wine from Alsace.  The whites produced there are exactly the kind that I like - light, crisp, fragrant - and they are typically inexpensive.  Whenever released at Vintages, I usually make an effort to pick up a bottle or two, which has led to the odd abundance in my collection.

So like any normal person would do (right?), I decided to have an Alsatian Pinot Blanc showdown.  On the right, there was the Pierre Sparr Pinot Blanc Reserve 2010 ($14.95) and on the left, the Joseph Cattin Pinot Blanc 2010 ($14.95).  The Pinot Blanc by Pierre Sparr has fragrant notes of pomelo, apple, and mineral, along with floral and petrol aromas.  It is a bit oily on the palate, pleasantly so, and is medium bodied.  In contrast, Joseph Cattin Pinot Blanc is much lighter, crisp with aromas of gala apple, lime pith, honey and orange blossom.  I preferred the latter of the two, however I would be quite happy to find either of these lovelies in my tumbler.

Just as a side note, Alsace is a small wine-producing area in the north east of France, separated from Germany by the Rhein river.  It is known for its crisp aromatic white wines, made from grape varieties like Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Riesling and Gewurztraminer, however a smaller quantity of red wine is also produced, based mainly on Pinot Noir.

I still have a couple more of these bottles in my cellar, begging to be opened soon.  I wonder what the next winter showdown will bring....