2010 Alsace

One of Alsace’s noble and lowest profile white grape varieties, but here raised on a plinth by the experienced hand of Pierre Gassmann, their calcareous Rorschwihr vineyards and the excellent, intense 2010 vintage. Pale lemon in colour, the nose sings with citrussy, sunny, hay-like aromas, with understated elegance. The medium bodied, off-dry palate is very pretty, with white currant – gooseberry even – crunchy fruit and freshness. Noble indeed. 
David Berry Green

Lovely aromas of white stone fruit, peach, pear and apple blossom hits the nose. The palate is rich and concentrated on the medium plus bodied side. The quality of this wine can be seen on the textural quality of the palate, with a lovely density and viscosity, Poire William in the foreground with a tension, brightness and vibrancy that lasts throughout the spicy minute long length. A very expressive and serious Pinot Gris, one that can drink from 2019 – 2030+.
Stuart Rae, Private Account Manager

With the customer in mind, Hugel have redesigned their range to reflect the different levels of quality in very simple and International terms.
Hugel first and foremost is an advocate of the dry style of Alsace wine. Hugel wines are tight, structured, mineral and dry – unless they’re sweet.

The “Grossi Laüe" range is made from their top Grand Crus vineyards (Riesling from the Schoenenbourg and Gewurztraminer from the Sporen).
Finally, the crème de la crème “Schoelhammer” which is on par with the great Trimbach Clos St Hune. The tiny production of this single vineyard called “Schoelhammer” is proudly sitting at the top of the their range, made from only 30 rows of vines and with a mere 4288 bottle production. 

Wow – there is a lot going on here! Mirabelle plum, blood orange, yuzu and a waxy, nut oil note on the nose. This is broad and structured, yet not as heady as Pinot Gris can be, there is a real sense of precision here amidst the weight of the wine. Only produced when the Trimbach family are happy it has the quality to merit the Reserve Personelle label, this was the stand out wine of the tasting for me. If you can resist the temptation, give this a couple of years in the cellar and then enjoy over the following decade. Simply put, the best Pinot Gris I have ever tasted and extraordinary value to boot. Wonderful.
Fergus Stewart, Private Account Manager

The Trimbach family is one of France’s greatest winemaking dynasties, having made wine in Alsace for over three centuries (since 1626) based in the picturesque town of Ribeauvillé.

If Zind Humbrecht produces wines of extravagant power at one end of the spectrum of excellence within Alsace wine making, then Trimbach definitely stands at the other extreme – “Restraint” is the watchword.  The Trimbach style is paraphrased perfectly by Hubert Trimbach and the family itself – “Concentrated not heavy; fruity, not sweet; bracing rather than fat; polite rather than voluptuous. Trimbach wines are reserved, steely, elegant, even aristocratic; never obvious or flashy.  We are Protestants.  Our wines have the Protestant style – vigour, firmness, a beautiful acidity, lovely freshness. Purity and cleanness, that’s Trimbach.” For those weary of the copious residual sugar found in so many of the contemporary Alsace wines, Trimbach’s are a refuge.

As the family moves into its 13th generation, with Pierre’s daughter Anne now working in the business (& Jean’s son Julian studying vine science at Dijon), Maison Trimbach remains a byword for fine dry Alsace Riesling. 

Famously controversial for opting out of the Grand Cru classification back in 1975 on account of the overly generous yields & low sugar levels (low quality) required, in the past five years the negociant has added 15 hectares of prime Grand Cru sites, notably in Osterberg, Geisberg, & Schlossberg, bringing their total to 45ha.  So the family are clearly not closing the door on the possibility of releasing single Grand Cru vineyard wines, albeit in tiny quantities. However they lament the fact that France’s supermarkets continue to buy up 75% of the region’s production, selling Grand Cru wines at around €7/bottle on the shelf.

Meanwhile their brands of (Riesling) Cuvee Frederic Emile, (Pinot Gris) Reserve Personnelle & (Gewurztraminer) Cuvee des Seigneurs de Ribeaupierre remain central  to the range, made from both own fruit & bought in fruit; they remain a clear step up in terroir finesse from the fruitier ‘Reserve’ lines.  Clos Ste. Hune is estate’s finest Riesling, from a 1.67ha ‘clos’ within Grand Cru Rosacker; the provenance readily communicated but still absent from the label.  So as winemaker Pierre Trimbach signs off his 34th vintage in charge, this is still very much an estate to watch.

These wines are considered the benchmark for quality, consistency and style.  

Clos Mathis is André Ostertag's vineyard lying due south in the Haut-Rhin village of Ribeauville. Precisely, it's a Clos close to Kirchberg, south facing and naturally air-conditioned by the Vosges mountains close behind. This is granite territory, giving sinewy, water-minerally Rieslings like nowhere else (bar the Mosel!) The result is a cool, stoney intense, finely textured wine with zero residual sugar (dry) that offers wonderful poise and precision, for drinking now but ideally from 2015 till 2025.
(David Berry Green, Berrys' Alsace Buyer)

If Clos Mathis was the 'support act', Muenchberg is defintely 'headlining', offering both power and poise all rolled into one! We're back up near Nothalten, on the border of the Bas and Haut Rhins, in the pink sandstone and volcanic detritus of Muenchberg's hot amphitheatre; the sandstone giving perfume, the volvanic rocks the power. Not a shy dry wine at nearly 14%, it's packed with flighty, tiny berries/mirabelles, floral complexity and intrigue.The palate though, as with Clos Ste Hune, gives nothing away, being tightly coiled, compact, in a shell! You'll need to wait till closer to 2020 to reap the rewards of this prodigious wine. Hold tight!
(David Berry Green, Berrys' Alsace Buyer)

Drier still than the Clos Hauserer, at 4 grams RS, Clos Windsbuhl's sword-like verticality also stems from its position at the top of the slope behind Hunawihr close to the cooling  Vosges forest (ala Chambertin) and its poor Muschelkalk limestone soils, together promoting a long hang time and great complexity. When I visited Olivier in March this year I noted the wine's incredible stoniness and elegance; it will need more time to come round than Clos Hauserer, best from 2015 till 2030?
(David Berry Green, Berrys' Alsace Buyer)

Selection des Grains Nobles are rare due to a bunch by bunch harvest selection and minimum sugar levels. This is one step up from Vendange Tardive and offers one richness, concentration and gloriously sweet fruit flavours. Full bodied, hugely mouth-filling and thick with outstanding, complex ripe fruits and maple syrup characteristics.
Laura Atkinson-Godwin, Private Account Manager


Clos Jebsal is a single vineyard in Turkheim (1.3 ha), Alsace. The first written reference of Jebsal dates back to a deed of sale from the 16th century. Located on a steep escarpment, it was left abandoned until 1982 when Leonard Humbrecht finally managed to reunite all the small parcels and restore the lieu-dit to its entirety. The name Jebsal refers to gypsum, the important geological component of this vineyard alongside a geological fault of grey marl limestone and Keuper, rich in clay. The small clos is very steep (50%) with numerous terraces facing due south which benefits from a very warm microclimate, hidden and protected from the northerly winds. The grey marl soils have good water retention capacity which prevents hydric stress, yielding wines with beautiful balanced acidities.

Wines from Clos Jebsal are discreet in their youth, often marked with flinty or smoky aromas. The expression of fruit linked to the concentration by botrytis is coaxed out with some time in bottle, a minimum of ten years is recommended to allow for the development of the true expression of Clos Jebsal.