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Trimbach Clos Ste. Hune & Cuvee Frederic Emile Vertical with James Handford MW
Handford Wines, London
Tasted July 1, 2014 by Papies with 673 views
Introduction
As part of Handfords' 25th anniversary tasting series James presented a vertical of what he called his favourite white wine.
He is an amazing wine professional and has an easy going way of presenting his tastings. Humble, not preaching yet full of knowledge and we love going to his tastings. Highly recommended.
The first time we tried Clos Ste. Hune and interestingly trying it with the Frederic Emile gave us the inside of polished and elegant acidity. Much like tannin in a way. Beautiful and elegant wines and we subscribe to the hype
Flight 1 - Cuvée Frédéric Emile (5 notes)
White
2004 Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile
90 points
Light in colour, light “petrolly” feel on the nose. Mineral, no residual sugar feel whatsoever, good acidity. Quite sharp acid though, young and needs time for the acidic structure to mellow and round (much like young tannin). At this stage it is on the forgettable side of the equation. Needs time (5yrs min). 90
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Comment
White
2001 Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile
90 points
Light gold in colour. Light mineral, light caramel touch, light “petrolly” feel on the nose. Feels young and sharp on the palate and needs time for the acidity to round and get a polished feel. Has a bitter edge on the finish. Light feel of some residual sugar on the palate. Full of promise but a touch unpolished at this stage. 90
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Comment
White
1998 Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile
92 points
Quite a bit of colour here, almost golden, dark yellow. Looks a lot order than the 04 & 01 we had before and looked a lot more dense. Light “petrolly” feel as expected, a touch of oxidation. Dense wine, mineral, light caramel feel and generally felt riper. The structure is there of course, proper acidity provides the backbone to the wine. But its rounding off and not as sharp as its younger brothers we tried before. No sharp edges here and pretty long finish. 92/93 and very nice. In its drinking window.
White
1997 Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile
89 points
Dark in colour, dark honey style, points immediately to the rich wine this is. Full on ripe fruit feel on the nose, less mineral. Fully round on the palate and the acidity is well present but the ripe character of the wine pushes it off balance and just did not feel right. Not an off dry, not a dry wine, a hybrid one but much like hybrid cars of the 1990s it just didn’t work right. 89-90 no idea how this ages.
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Comment
White
1996 Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile
93 points
The best of the Cuvee Frederic Emile we have tried on the night. A step better than the others for sure. Good Colour, shows age yet very glossy. Light “petrolly” feel as expected, light vanilla too on the nose. Big acid structure here, firm and vibrant but also elegant and has shed all the sharp edges of youth. Almost like the polished feel of the Clos St. Hunes that followed. Just gets the balance right between fruit and acid at this stage. Very good. 93-94
Flight 2 - Clos Ste. Hune (6 notes)
White
2003 Trimbach Riesling Clos Ste. Hune
93 points
Decent golden hue on the colour front. Quite a bit of “petrolly” feel, ripe feel. Good acidity keeps the ripeness in check and this had the hallmarks of CstH, the big acidity yet very polished and elegant. Alive and sharp, complex and giving even at this young age. Maybe one of the few vintages to start drinking younger? Really a beautiful wine to drink now and very enjoyable. Not sure how this ages to be honest though. 92-93 now
White
2002 Trimbach Riesling Clos Ste. Hune
92 points
Light golden in colour, glossy. Rich on the nose, “petrolly” feel, floral and with mineral edge. Quite rich on the palate to start and takes a bit of a pause till the acid structure shows up. A touch of residual sugar feel on the palate. Not as focussed as the other CstH and definitely very young now. Needs time we believe. 91-92 for now.
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Comments (2)
White
2001 Trimbach Riesling Clos Ste. Hune
94 points
Very expressive wine. The colour is goldish/yellow, glossy and vibrant. A touch of caramel undertone on the nose, a touch floral at times. Feels fatter and very nicely structured. Young of course and has a good 10 years in it. Concentrated, big acidity yet polished acidity, round and elegant much like the tannin of a young yet beautiful claret. Nice now but full of promise for the future. 93-94
White
2000 Trimbach Riesling Clos Ste. Hune
91 points
Followed the beautiful 2001 so this “lesser” wine felt a big drop down. Light golden in colour and shows its age. Sweeter than 2002 and 2001 and a bit “syropy”. Ripe vintage here so, so the richness almost wins. It takes some time for the acidity and structure to make their entrance.. Lacs the complexity and focus of CstH. 90-91
White
1999 Trimbach Riesling Clos Ste. Hune
95 points
This wine gets the balance of ripeness and acidity just right. Definitely has a ripe edge but the structure of this wine is such that it feels effortlessly balanced, focussed and full of complexity. Still a young wine. Shows the hallmarks of great Riesling of big yet polished acidity, round and full of elegance. 94-95 and full of promise. Lots of life ahead.
White
1990 Trimbach Riesling Clos Ste. Hune
94 points
The colour points to a younger wine and generally does not feel 24years old. Very mineral and layered wine with a shy nose. Very well structured, just perfectly polished acidity carries the wine and is a testament to great Rieslings. Rich undertone of fruit provides the fireworks and a pretty long finish. Maybe not as spectacular as the 99 but still a beautiful wine. 93-94
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Comment
Closing
Definitely young wines with lots of improvement to come for the patient ones.
One point to highlight is that in the absence of food, the high acidity does tire and unless one is very well trained or spits palate fatigue will be an issue in any long tasting of these wines.