A visit to Zind Humbrecht

Alsace, France
Tasted Saturday, March 11, 2017 by Loren Sonkin with 363 views

Introduction

Last week, my wife and I visited our son who is doing a semester in Luxembourg. Jane and I took a day drive down to Alsace to visit a couple of wineries. In the afternoon, we visited Zind Humbrecht. Frédérique was kind enough to organize a tasting there and taste us thru a variety of the wines. This has always been one of our favorite wineries and it wa great to visit and taste a lot of the wines. Unfortunately, the 2015's did not show as well as I had hoped, which I am attributing to bottle shock. I thought she said they had been recently bottled. OTOH, the other wines showed quite well. Nevertheless, I did buy some 2015's having confidence that they will come around with time!

Zind Humbrecht has a beautiful new facility with a very cool tasting room overlooking the barrels. Thank you so much Frédérique for allowing us to taste thru the wines. The wines are listed in the order tasted.

Flight 1 (12 Notes)

  • 2015 Zind-Humbrecht Zind 90 Points

    France, Alsace

    Great to try this perennial value wine from 2015. As I said somewhere else, it looks like 2015 is a great vintage, at least for my tastes in Alsace. This is 60% Chardonnay, 30% Auxerois, and 10% Pinot Blanc. Light gold, almost clear in color. The nose is tight. With some swirling, some lemony notes come out along with a bit of cashew cream and minerals. More open at this point on the palate with a really nice lemon tart quality. A bit of bitter lemon peel on the finish in a good way. Overall, this is still tight and I presume recently bottled. It has a lovely texture and for around $20, this is a great value.

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  • 2011 Zind-Humbrecht Muscat Goldert 93 Points

    France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru

    We had another producers Muscat for lunch which was ok. This blew it away. Very impressive at this point. Light gold in color. The nose is peachy with floral notes and melons. With air, some orange/peel notes come out. On the palate, a lovely "slippery" texture. Great melon (cantaloupe) along with some minerals/chalk. Enough acidity to carry it. Starting to show some layers in its depth. Very interesting. Long finish. If I had seen this on a store shelf I would presume it past prime. I would have been wrong. Very instructive.

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  • 2015 Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Terroir d'Alsace

    France, Alsace

    I won't offically rate this as it seemed like it was shut down pretty hard. I actually had it at 87, but that didn't seem right either. Most likely recently bottled. It drinks clean and easy right now. Made from young vines in the Brand vineyard I am told. Showing slight sulfur and some CO2 at the moment. With some swirling lemons emerge. The minerality is there as is the texture, but the fruit seems to be hiding and it just didn't seem open.

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  • 2015 Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Clos Windsbuhl Flawed

    France, Alsace

    OK, I am really struggling here with the 2015's. This bottle had been apparently opened for a day or two, but I got slight TCA on the nose. No, it should show much stronger being opened (even in a fridge) but I am pretty sensitive to this and stick by my story. Again, it may have also been recently bottled. The nose has some TCA and minerals but not much else. On the palate, good mouthfeel but again either shut down or TCA. Just not much fruit. The acidity is there though.

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  • 2014 Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Brand 93 Points

    France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru

    Light gold in color. The nose has minerals, sea air and slight grapefruit. It smells like it would be dry but on the palate, there is just a slight amount of sweetness. Really tart acidity that offsets the sweet nicely. Lemons and minerals with a bit of yellow grapefruits. Long finish. Very nice but needs time.

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  • 2014 Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Rangen de Thann Clos St. Urbain 94 Points

    France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru

    All right. This is what I came for. Light golden in color. The nose has minerals, slight hay, grapefruit, slight wet rock notes. On the palate, this is dry. very deep and complex if tight. Great acidity. Long finish. It starts off all about the rocks, then some lemons come out along with a hint of chalk and then finishes with a nice minerality. Needs time of course, but this is star.

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  • 2014 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Rotenberg 92 Points

    France, Alsace

    Light gold in color. The nose is nice with chalk, a bit of sea air, and slight peach. On the palate, this is dry. a bit thinner in texture after the Riesling. The palate has chalk and more salinity (seems to be a common thread here). some peach fruit. Great acidity. Long finish. Very nice showing.

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  • 2007 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Rangen de Thann Clos St. Urbain 93 Points

    France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru

    Light golden in color despite being 10 years from vintage. This is higher in alcohol - 15% but it is not noticeable. At the same time, this is sweet and one wonders how much alcohol this would get if fermented dry. The nose has a lot of lime with some minerals/chalk. On the palate, this is sweet (indice -3) but not at dessert level or anything like that. The limes carry thru but there is also a bit of a smoked note. complex and interesting. I would think its near peak but it doesn't show it, so who knows.

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  • 2010 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Rangen de Thann Clos St. Urbain 96 Points

    France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru

    I loved this wine (bought a bottle). No idea where or when to serve it as it is an oddball, but it is outstanding. Light golden in color. The nose is very cool. It has a sugary/honey quality but also some orange citrus and tangerine. Then thee is this almost bell pepper quality that is lovely in this context. An underlying rocky quality to the nose is there as well. On the palate, this is very sweet. Dessert like but not cloying. Enough acidity to balance it out. It starts slow and just keeps building on the palate. Citrus, minerals, maybe some quince paste and simple syrup. The finish goes on. Still showing young, this seems like a wine built for decades. Then at the end of the finish, it has a bitter/almond/Gewurz note that is a perfect ending. Needless to say, i bought a bottle.

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  • 2013 Zind-Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Clos Windsbuhl 94 Points

    France, Alsace

    Another sweet dessert-like wine. Indice 4. The nose is just gorgeous. Lychees with a floral note and slight lemon. Viscous texture. Slightly sweet on the attack, it gets sweeter as it progresses. certainly not cloying. The lychees carry thru along with some honey/canned peaches. Nice acidity. Long finish. Very pretty wine. The nose is so nice now, and it might fade, but the palate will improve. Hard to put a drinking window on, but no hurry.

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  • 2011 Zind-Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Herrenweg de Turckheim Vendange Tardive Vieilles Vignes 95 Points

    France, Alsace

    Light golden in color. The nose has melon, honey, caramel and just a slight lychee. It is gorgeous though. On the palate, there is a cocoa puff cereal note along with honey and slight burnt orange peel. Delicious. Viscous. Very sweet and certainly a dessert wine, but still good acidity. Not cloying. Finish goes on forever. Beautiful wine with decades left.

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  • 1976 Zind-Humbrecht Eau de Vie Marc de Gewurztraminer

    France, Alsace

    This was made in 1976 by Leonard Humbrecht and bottled in January, 2017 by Oilvier Humbrecht. The first is my high school graduation year. It is rose hips tea in color (think a reddish iced tea). There is a lot of alcohol in this - 63.1%. The nose has alcohol for sure but there is a bit of fruit there. It comes across as peach to me. On the palate, this is intense. I am not sure if I imagine it or it is there, but I did get some Gewurz qualities. There is also a nice shot of alcohol. A little goes a long way, but I found it enjoyable. Considering the alcohol, reasonably smooth. I bought bottle 364/370 so I guess there is not much left.

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Closing

The Marc is cool as it is my high school graduation year (some both Jane and Frédérique seemed to fin humorous for some reason). The wines were great and it was a real privilege to visit a place whose wine are in the cellar and we have been drinking for a long time.

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