92 Points | International Wine Cellar , November/December 2010

($40) Full, slightly hazy red. Sexy, soil-driven aromas of raspberry, smoked meat, crushed stone, licorice and brown spices; way beyond mere fruit. Then sappy, savory and complex in the mouth, with real calcaire energy to the tactile, palate-dusting flavors of red berries, spices and earth. Finishes very long and saline, with suave tannins building with air. A fascinating mostly pinot noir wine, and a convincing example of this limestone-rich site. This appears to be built for long life in bottle. (Incidentally, the Burlenberg and the cuvees that follow are Deiss's now-famous vins du terroir-his field blends of two or more varieties that are designated only by their premier cru or grand cru site rather than labeled by variety. Tasting these wines poses a real intellectual challenge for all but Alsace specialists and insiders who are intimately familiar with the distinctive soil character of Alsace's top sites, and do not need the crutch of the variety on the front label to assess the wine in the bottle. Thus far, very few growers have followed Deiss's example of bottling multiple crus, though some are experimenting with issuing a single wine or two simply by site name.)

90 Points | Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate