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Wine Description
The Story
Riesling is the Pinot Noir of white wines! It is our most demanding variety as it is also the latest ripening. Dry and elegant, it expresses itself best on our steepest slopes with the most complex minerality.
This is the Famille Hugel signature wine. This dry Riesling stands out for its finesse and frankness and is the ideal partner to fish and seafood thanks to its wonderful balance and elegance.
In the vineyard :
Made exclusively from hand harvested Riesling grapes from predominantly clay and limestone vineyards, in a dozen of the most favored localities in and around Riquewihr. A cool and long growing season give this unique dry wine great finesse and unequalled intensity.
Winemaking :
The grapes are taken in small tubs to the presses, which are filled by gravity, without any pumping or other mechanical intervention.
After pressing, the must is decanted for a few hours, then fermented in temperature-controlled barrels or vats (at 18 to 24°C). The wine is racked just once, before natural clarification during the course of the winter. The following spring, the wine is lightly filtered just before bottling, and the bottles are then aged in our cellars until released for sale.
The whole production of this wine is closed with DIAM the cork without the risk of cork taint.
Wine Information
Alcohol level (% vol.) : 12.7°
Age of vines : 22 years
Yields : 68 hl/ha
Residual Sugar (g/l) : 4.2
pH : 3.02
Acidity (g/l) : 7.62
The vintage :
2015 will go down as an exceptional vintage year for the whole of France. After one of the hottest and driest summers since 2003 and a harvest quality to rivals those of the great "solar" vintages of 1945, 1976, 1989 and 2009, the Alsace region will be no exception.
The year started with quite normal weather conditions, a total of 6 days below freezing (up to -6°C) during the winter. The spring was, however, pleasant and sunny. The vines budded slightly later than usual, around the 13 April, and blossomed during the first weeks of June, indicating an early vintage. This was normal considering the low rain fall, a record of only 30mm between 4 May and 24 July! These dry conditions were compounded by a heatwave that lasted for almost the whole of July.
By the time the grapes started to ripen, the vines were suffering, especially in the more well-drained soils with limited reserves of water. Riquewihr and its loamy soil seemed to have escaped the worst of this and the heavy rain that came in mid-August saved the harvest just in time.
We started grape-picking on the 10 September, three days later than the rest of the Alsace, and the first grapes to arrive in the winery gave every indication of an exceptional vintage year. The grapes were perfectly healthy and ripe; their supple acidity was a taste of great wine to come. The Pinots, especially the magnificent Pinot Noir, of this great "solar" year were highly appreciated.
Only one day of rain disrupted the harvest, which was already well underway at the time.
The rapid acceleration of the ripening during the third week and a nice outbreak of botrytis meant the most part of our Riesling de Schoenenbourg were harvested late, and once again the Engelkritt (Angels' Vine) won us not one but two of the "Sélection de Grains Nobles" awards for this grape variety, the most concentrated being at a potential of 23°!
Press:
Pale yellow-green. Nectarine, green apple and medicinal herbs on the nose. Juicy, spicy and energetic in the mouth, showing lovely lift and cut to the flavors of lime, apple and minerals. Finishes perfumed and long. With 7.9 g/l total acidity and only 3.7 g/l residual sugar, this Riesling is resolutely dry. In fact, it strikes me as especially spicy and lemony, almost tart; I'd forget about it for a year or two and then try a bottle to see how it's coming along." – Ian D'Agata, Vinous, Note : 90/100, 2016-02-01
A fresh, harmonious white, with a floral overtone and a crowd-pleasing mix of nectarine, chalky mineral, orange blossom and candied pink grapefruit zest. Drink now through 2020. 2,200 cases imported. – Alison Napjus, Wine Spectator, Note : 90/100, 2015-10-15
