wine tasting guide vintage wine riesling pinot gris gewurztraminer riquewihr alsace wine: hugel

TASTING NOTES

Riesling "HUGEL" 1998 HOMMAGE A JEAN HUGEL

1998 VINTAGE:

Fourth great vintage in a row, for the first time this century in Alsace ! The weather was uneven all year, but flowering passed without incident, followed by a heatwave from early August until 15th September.
The harvest began early, on 24th September, giving very good results for our bought-in grapes. Grapes from our own Estate were picked under ideal conditions, and gave an appreciable quantity of late-picked over-ripe wines. An excellent crop of Gewurztraminer made up for the very small harvest in 1997.

VINIFICATION:

Our Riesling HOMMAGE A JEAN HUGEL comes from the historic HUGEL family estates in the heart of the Grand Cru Schoenenbourg slope. As for the rest of our production, our grapes are harvested exclusively by hand.
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.
This new quality level celebrates the 50th consecutive vintage that Jean Hugel presided over. HOMMAGE A JEAN HUGEL is an intermediate quality level between our JUBILEE and VENDANGE TARDIVE ranges. The balance of Alcohol/Residual Sugar is in RIESLING (12,4°/ 33 g/l) .

TASTING NOTES:
(by Serge Dubs, World's Best Sommelier 1989)

The depth and intensity of the colour are immediately promising, its brilliance highlighting the green hints, still very youthful and fresh.
A marvellous bouquet, with the firm mineral character of Riesling in harmony with a touch of wild herbs (sage, marjoram, fresh tobacco leaf, verbena, lemon balm) and a range of ripe, but not over-ripe, fruit (lime, grapefruit, greengage).
A noble, proud, aristocratic wine, with a backbone - of ripe acidity, of course - that provides constitution yet leaves an agreeable sensation of elegance, despite the relative richness in residual sugar that gives the wine its overall mellow, flattering, enticing character.
A wine to drink now and within the next 10 years, at 8°C, on its own, a sharing wine to mark a special moment, a conversation wine, or serve it with foie gras, rhubarb tart and desserts that are not too sweet.
13 June 2004

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