A Day With Olivier Humbrecht
Turckheim, Alsace, France
Tasted Monday, April 11, 2005 by JeffGMorris with 1,292 views
Introduction
Dena and I had arranged with our friend Olivier Humbrecht to meet at his winery for a tour and tasting, but had no idea that Olivier would be gracious enough to spend 6 uninterrupted hours with us!
A tour of the winery further secured our opinions regarding this Domaine. Olivier seems to have a command of every detail of what it takes to make great wine. We saw everything from the presses to the holding tanks to the bottling and shipping areas. Of course we also spent some time in the aging room where most of the '04 wines were in casks and the '02 Clos Jebsal SGN Trie Speciale sits in 4 new oak barriques. The cellar holding bottled wines was a special treat to see and we were allowed to go into the area holding bottles put aside by Olivier and his father for consumption by family and friends. The bins full of older vintages of Rangen, Brand and Windsbuhl among others made it hard not to drool! A couple of bottles from this area would meet their fate later this same day at lunch!
Next we were back upstairs in the tasting room where glass windows on 2 sides reveal views of several of the ZH vineyards. As Olivier pointed out each site that he owns it became more obvious than ever that his knowledge of his vineyards is truly remarkable. It was fascinating to listen to him and to have the opportunity to ask questions 1 on 1 ( well 2 on 1 actually! ).
After this we moved on to a tasting of the '03 vintage. A few general comments on the tasting and the vintage:
1. Dena and I really gained a new respect for professional tasters as going through 20 wines from a single vintner and vintage and keeping the concentration to be able to analyze each wine was not easy.
2. The Rieslings in particular seemed to be closed and Olivier confirmed that they had been more open a few months back.
3. Many of the '03s are dry wines and should show much better in the context of food.
4. Though some wines are low in acid they mostly seem to have the richness to be well balanced wines. Aging is still anyone's guess, though some clearly show their vineyard's pedigree and should age well.
5. Are the '03s wines to purchase? A tough question to answer. Many of the following wines have much to offer, but in many cases they should be drunk in their first 5-10 years, since aging of most '03s is an unknown. I think several of the wines have character and distinction that would make them worthy additions to a cellar. However, I think most of the wines Olivier made in the '01 and '02 vintages are more classic and will age better. The '02 vintage seems to have come and gone with little fanfare from the press but is in my opinion a superb vintage for ZH ( A view shared by Olivier by the way ). I will purchase a very limited number of '03s, but this is mostly a statement of available cellar space.
6. We talked a little about 2004 and although it is too early to tell it sounds like a very good, if not great, vintage. Wines are still fermenting so nothing is set yet but it looks like there will be a Brand VT Riesling that Olivier feels could be on the level of the great '95.
7. These notes are particularly hard on the wines as when tasting at ZH you are comparing amongst very good, great and superb wines. None showed any flaws that would make them something you wouldn't want to drink.
8. Tannins were very high in '03 which should help aging.
On to the wines:
Flight 1 - Muscat (2 Notes)
As usual Goldert shows it's class.
Flight 2 - Riesling (6 Notes)
Mostly closed down and also very dry so hard to evaluate now, especially without food.
Flight 3 - Pinot Gris (4 Notes)
All bled some red during pressing and some have a slightly pink hue.
Flight 4 - Gewurztraminer (6 Notes)
High tannins may help the aging of these wines. Some of our favorites of the vintage were Gewurz.
Flight 5 - SGN (1 Note)
There were no VTs produced in the '03 vintage but Jebsal came through like usual with an SGN ( surprisingly, there will be no '04 Jebsal SGN ).
Flight 6 - Pinot Noir (1 Note)
The heat of '03 gave Pinot Noir a better chance than usual in this Northern climate. All the wineries were high on their '03 Pinots as we travelled through Alsace.
Flight 7 - Spirits
There have been a few Marcs and Eau-de-vie made at ZH over the years and out came some '90 Marc de Gewurz for me to try. 54% alcohol! Very strong and powerful but also very interesting and complex. Long finish that was warm, but not hot. The rest of the small sample bottle came home with me as well as 375ml bottles of a '76 Fine d'Gewurz and a '84 Mirabelle Eau-de-vie.
Flight 8 - Lunch (2 Notes)
Part way through the tasting we were briefly joined by Olivier's lovely wife Margaret to see if it was ok for their soon to be 12 years old son to join us for lunch as Olivier was planning to take us to his son's favorite restaurant. Of course, we were happy to have him join us. So the 4 of us piled into Olivier's car and we were off to a Winstub in Turckheim. Olivier had with him 2 unmarked bottles from the personal part of the cellar!
With a wonderful and very leisurely lunch of Escargot and Vol-au-vent we shared ...
Closing
Back to the winery after lunch for a little more conversation, some drooling at the double magnums Olivier showed us, and the purchase of some Eau-de-vie and Fine d'Alsace. What a day!
2003 Zind-Humbrecht Muscat Herrenweg de Turckheim
France, Alsace
Light yellow in color, this wine shows a highly aromatic and floral nose typical of good quality Muscat. Very dry on the medium bodied palate. The finish is of a medium length. A nice wine for early drinking.
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2003 Zind-Humbrecht Muscat Goldert
France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru
Light yellow in color with more richness, complexity and structure than the Herrenweg. Long finish. A nice wine to drink for the next 5 years or so but I don't think this
will be one of the Goldert Muscats that go 30-40 years.
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