Bruno Sorg Pinot Gris Florimont 2016

Sometimes familiarity breeds contempt, I’m ashamed to say. I looked in the holding wine cooler tonight for something to follow cook’s rainbow trout, chips and spring greens and felt a slight twinge of disappointment when I discovered this was the only bottle of white in there. I briefly thought of a trek to the cellar but couldn’t find the gas lamp or the matches and didn’t fancy tackling the problem of the missing step halfway down without either. And it had been raining, so the puddles would be an inch deep…

In time, with a sigh I opened the bottle and took a sip. I immediately realised what an idiot I was being. Not only do I love Sorg’s wines, but also this was one of the best I had ever tasted. I had fallen for the ‘ought to try something different’ nagging in my head which I usually manage to dismiss with contempt. If it ain’t broke, why fix it?

So yes, this was an utterly wonderful bottle and possibly my favourite Sorg to date. I think Pinot Gris is my Alsatian grape of choice, and this hit a magical sweet spot between concentrated fruity lusciousness (unusually so for a Sorg), acidity and salinity. I looked up my notes. Three bought at the vineyard in February 2019 for 15€ each. Good grief. Previous one drunk in August 2021 and pronounced ‘excellent.’ A bit of an understatement, I reckon. Doing the sums, that’s – let’s see, three minus one minus one… I think I have one left! I won’t be so stupid next time – I’ll be looking forward to it.