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)

Flight 2 - Riesling (6 notes)

Flight 3 - Pinot Gris (4 notes)

Flight 4 - Gewurztraminer (6 notes)

Flight 5 - SGN (1 note)

Flight 6 - Pinot Noir (1 note)

Flight 7 - Spirits (0 notes)

Flight 8 - Lunch (2 notes)

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!