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  • Country ranking ?

    1 404
  • Producer ranking ?

    14
  • Decanting time

    45min
  • When to drink

    now to 2030
  • Food Pairing

    Shellfish carpaccio, sashimis & grilled sea bass

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

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The Story

The Trimbach family is one of France’s greatest winemaking dynasties, having made wine in Alsace for over three centuries. The family produces outstanding wines from all the classic Alsace varieties, but their two greatest wines are made from just one variety, Riesling. In fact, Trimbach’s Clos Ste. Hune and Cuvée Frédéric Emile are not only Alsace’s two greatest dry Rieslings, they may well be the two finest examples made anywhere. If there is one Riesling in the world which every wine lover dreams of tasting and savoring, it is "Clos Sainte-Hune"

In 1919, after centuries of making Rieslings, the Trimbach family created one of the world’s greatest dry white wines: Clos Ste. Hune.

Trimbach produces this holy-grail wine from the tiny 3-acre Clos Ste. Hune. The Clos lies within the Rosacker grand cru. Yet, the Trimbachs label their treasure simply as Clos Ste. Hune, just as they have since 1919. They refer to neither Rosacker nor grand cru; Clos Ste. Hune transcends both. It is hors classe in the same way that Ch. d’Yquem is in Sauternes.

Clos Ste. Hune balances its enveloping richness with an intense minerality, remarkable finesse and great structure. This is thanks to Clos Ste. Hune’s 40-year-old vines, planted in cool, calcareous-clay soil with a gentle incline and a high percentage of limestone. Thus, like a Raveneau grand cru Chablis, the more it ages, the more profound Clos Ste. Hune becomes.

The Trimbachs continue to make Clos Ste. Hune as they did in the past: a cool, slow fermentation; a quick racking to remove the wine from the lees; no malolactic fermentation; and a short period of aging in neutral wood foudre before bottling early to retain the fruit. The wine is then aged for an incredible five years in bottle before being released.

In great years, tiny amounts of Vendange Tardive are made, but they are different from other VT’s. They result not from botrytis but passerillage—dehydration caused by the sap returning to the vines root system. They boast immense concentration and complexity, but only off-dry levels of residual sugar, as Trimbach vinifies them to be as dry as possible. Like other Clos Ste. Hunes, the VT’s are capable of immortality.

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Wine Information

What a treat it is to taste one of Alsace’s great all time wines! In fact, this is an especially rare bottling of Clos Ste. Hune in that it only came to be thanks to the particular nature of the 1989 vintage in Alsace, when Botrytis cinerea was rampant. By the time the Clos was ready to be harvested, noble rot was everywhere. Bright golden-tinged straw green color, along with aromas and flavors of tangerine liqueur, candied orange peel, ripe lime, botanical herbs and some petrol, the 1989 is characterized by breathtaking purity and precision. A great wine! 

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Latest Pro-tasting notes

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Written Notes

Lemons and mandarins. Wonderful balance, great concentration, incredible length, and seriously complex. Marzipan notes, honeycomb. It would surely be the ultimate foie gras wine. 98-99. Good bottles today drink as well as ever, but it is perhaps become a riskier choice unless you are certain of immaculate cellaring.

  • 89p

Clear golden, petroleum starting to show, some botrytis, unripe pears and apricots, underneath some minerla touch, orange peel, cinamon and other spices. Fantastic, even great acidity at first, kind of Mosel elegance with Rheingau fruit, perfect balance, yellow plums, layered, very long finish, and what a elegance, gorgeous. Unfortunatelly after an hour or so, getting bigger and almost flaby compared to how it was, very Alsatian, overipe, well, it kind of ruined it all, even if still very good. First 94, then 86. If you have one, drink it during the first 45 minutes to one hour after you open it.

  • 94p
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Information

Origin

Ribeauville, Alsace

Vintage Quality

Excellent

Value For Money

Very good

Investment potential

Below Average

Fake factory

None

Other wines from this producer

Gewurztraminer

Gewurztraminer Cuvée des Seigneurs

Gewurztraminer Vendanges Tardives

Pinot Blanc

Pinot Gris Réserve

Pinot Gris Reserve Personnelle

Pinot Gris Selection de Grains Nobles

Riesling

Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile

Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile V.T.

Riesling Gaisberg

Riesling Réserve

Selection de Vieilles Vignes Riesling

Trimbach Gewurztraminer Selection de Grains Nobles

Trimbach Pinot Gris Réserve

Trimbach Riesling Réserve

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