The Next Generation in Fine Wine

DOMAINE ZIND-HUMBRECHT Vintage 2007 Review by David Schildknecht Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate –April 2010

fter the experience of 2003,” remarks 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht Olivier Humbrecht with an eye to his Gewurztraminer 2007s, “I’m never going to complain A Gewurztraminer Dry White Table wine from , about having and extra gram or two of , Haut Rhin, , , “Aacidity.” In fact, Humbrecht considers 2007 ideal in nearly Also recommended, but no tasting note given. Importer: every respect, having permitted the grower the luxury of picking under optimum conditions for each grape variety 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht and style. The fruit was completely healthy, insists Clos Windsbuhl (Chardonnay) Humbrecht, “you could walk through the vineyards for half A Chardonnay Dry White Table wine from , Turckheim, an hour and fine one spoiled berry,” … except, of course, Haut Rhin, Alsace, France, where the rot was noble! This year’s generally dry-tasting, Rating: 88 relatively low-alcohol, high acid, high-extract Rieslings are Each year, the Humbrechts have vinified at least one barrel not always the most youthfully approachable or winsome in of pure Chardonnay from the Clos Windsbuhl to follow its style, but the best are profound; whereas Pinot Gris and potential, and having new barriques left over from the red Gewurztraminer ran to extremities of potential alcohol, Pinot Noir that he had expected to make but didn’t, Olivier even though the harvest was finished before mid-October. Humbrecht vinified a pure Chardonnay 2007 Clos Far fewer wines went through malo-lactic transformation Windsbuhl, “using as little sulfur as possible during the here from 2007 than usual – the pHs were often so low they elevage, to see how it would develop.” How he labels it proved inhospitable to the necessary bacteria. As for 2006, remains to be seen, since Chardonnay cannot legally be it’s clear that this is a year to test the meddle of any grower, mentioned. Lanolin, lemon zest, and lightly toasted, milled and it is therefore not surprising that Zind-Humbrecht was wheat on the nose lead to a firm, implacably chalky palate among the estates to demonstrate that excellence and even and long, nutty, macaroon-tinged aftertaste. How it will age excitement were not ruled out by the weather. Furthermore, is anybody’s guess, but Humbrecht claims some of the he arrived at an average 2006 yield virtually identical to previous experiments have demonstrated stamina that of 2005. “Of course,” asserts Humbrecht, “quality in 2006 depended on how you handle your vineyards and your 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht vines the whole year through. It was a vintage where, if you Gewurztraminer Goldert made a mistake in the vineyards, you got slapped pretty Rating: 91 hard at harvest time, unlike 2007 where if you made a Candied brown spices and citrus peel along with litchi, mistake, nature was forgiving.” The completion of banana oil, and smoked meat in the nose of the Zind- fermentations in 2007 was spread over even more months Humbrecht 2007 Gewurztraminer Goldert usher in a than usual, often with late bottling; frequently with no strikingly creamy palate that no doubt reflects the low racking; and my notes are based both on tastings from acidity here (unusual by vintage standards) and introduces bottle early this year (sometimes referencing the wine’s quince preserves and nougat to the already rather performance from cask) and in a few instances solely on confectionary array of flavors on display. Precisely the tastings from cask. Two 2007 Pinot Gris “Trie Speciale” – wine’s creaminess and sweet personality held keep its 15% from Clos Windsbuhl and Clos Jebsal – were not even wine alcohol from burning, although it leaves my lips slightly yet last I visited, and will in any case not be released for at numb. In theory a powerful, rich Goldert like this should least another year. Importer: The Sorting Table, Napa, CA; age well for 15 or more years, and I have had a few great, old-fashioned, dry Gewurztraminer from vintages like 1967, 1959, or 1953 that no doubt harbored 15% alcohol. DOMAINE ZIND-HUMBRECHT

As in so many instances among the 2007 Zind-Humbrecht somehow refreshing. Cashew brittle, candied ginger and non-Rieslings, I’d simply caution to regularly monitor the lime zest along with liquid floral perfume dominate the wine in your cellar. But for the foreseeable future, I would soothing, buoyant, almost endlessly enticing finish. This rather drink the village-level bottling. benefits from some of the highest acidity of any of the Zind-Humbrecht 2007s, even though one doesn’t taste that 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht as such. You can lock this away for 20 years if you wish, Gewurztraminer Gueberschwihr but it is still going to have sweetness to spare, I suspect, so Rating: 92 why not savor it all along, even if that means Drink 2010 - 2020 unaccompanied? From their sole remaining “village level” parcel in the Humbrecht family’s home town, their 2007 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Gueberschwihr smells of brown spices, Gewurztraminer Goldert cocoa powder, curry powder, black tea, rose petal, freesia, Selection de Grains Nobles and peach preserves. Opulent and creamy on the palate, Rating: (96-97) with alcoholic fullness yet buoyancy, and only moderate Humbrecht’s 2007 Gewurztraminer Goldert Selection de sweetness; it finishes soothingly and long with caramelized Grains Nobles – vinified in a once-used demi-muid, and salted caramel, pit fruit preserves, honey, praline, and representing the first ever S.G.N. from these vines – had not refreshing suggestion of sweet lime. Amazingly, I can been bottled when I last tasted it, as he was waiting for it to detect no heat. Such remarkable balance in Gewurztraminer clarify. Candied lemon rind, licorice, faded gardenia, rose, is what one associates with this village’s unique sort of musk, peppermint, and coconut are among the exotic chalky soils, except that one might more expect it from the aromas that then transfer themselves to a creamy, Goldert grand cru. This should be fascinating to follow for practically weightlessly buoyant palate loaded with honey, a decade or more. marzipan, and quince paste. Despite this elixir’s confitured and confectionary cast, a marine, saline streak and a seam 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht of fresh citrus enliven and invigorate in a finish of Gewurztraminer Rangen de Thann Clos St Urbain kaleidoscopic dynamics. As with the Hengst, there’s no Rating: 87 track record here – not, at least, at this estate – but one To my knowledge, the Humbrechts’ 2007 Gewurztraminer could reasonably conclude from other selections made in Rangen Clos Saint Urbain sets a new record for the estate at this site and its longevity in far less-concentrated form that 16.4% alcohol, in effect following the trajectory of recent we have here a half-century wine. At the same time – and vintages in Rangen, though 22 grams of residual sugar in granted that my tasting note does not reflect bottling – this this instance may simply indicate that it will be up to the is showing much more intricacy and personality at this yeasts to say “when.” The acidity here is high for the early state than are its two immediate S.G.N. siblings. variety, as has been noted in numerous wines of the vintage, especially those accentuated by noble rot. Lavender, rose 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht petal, celery root, and whiffs of wood smoke on the nose Gewurztraminer Heimbourg are attractive and entirely predictable, if backed by a faintly Rating: 91 spirituous sense of nose-tweaking intensity. In the mouth, The Zind-Humbrecht 2007 Gewurztraminer Heimbourg though, this catches fire – and not in a good way – features rose water, cinnamon candy, and caramel, though sweeping across the palate, and leaving behind charred, at the same time suggestions of mint and celery root. The smoked meat, and high-toned notes of banana oil, citrus oil, sense of richness and density here is at once creamy, leesy, and distilled pit fruits, and peat. The old “drink-it-before-it- and chalky offering suitable buffering for the high residual drinks-you” line is insufficient to express the relentless, sugar. While more conventional in terms of its alcoholic virtually incendiary ferocity, eye watering smokiness and weight than the corresponding bottling and searing brightness on display here. Ok, it’s done drunk me – less marked by botrytis, this is another virtual vendange now what? I’d be lying if I said I don’t want to see what tardive. Here – given the track record of the site – there is becomes of it after a few years in bottle. more reason to anticipate further complexity emerging after a decade or more in bottle.

2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Clos Windsbuhl Rating: 93 Mango, musk melon, litchi, jasmine, black tea, and ginger on the nose of the Zind-Humbrecht 2007 Gewurztraminer Clos Windsbuhl join with honey, lime, and marzipan on a creamy, buoyant palate for an effect confectionary and yet

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2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Hengst Gewurztraminer Turckheim Selection de Grains Nobles Rating: 90 Rating: 95 Drink 2010 - 2018 Zind-Humbrecht’s 2007 Gewurztraminer Hengst Selection Humbrecht’s 2007 Gewurztraminer Turckheim – from de Grains Nobles – their first such wine ever from this site, younger vines in the Herrenweg – is quite sweet from its 38 and vinified in a new mini-oval cask – offers distilled- grams of residual sugar, even after reaching 15.2% alcohol, strength mint, sage flower, rose petal, and litchi. Licorice, and its tactile impressions of ginger, clove, orange rind, and herbal liqueur, vanilla icing, cinnamon candy, and candied white pepper are thereby amplified, but this voluminous, citrus rind saturate the palate, their confectionary character rich wine manages to steer clear of heat. Intense brown backed up by enormous sweetness. This clings with spices, rose petal, and distilled herbal essences give this the abandon. This would make an amazingly luxurious dessert anticipated aromatic intensity of the variety. You can argue wine, but one imagines – there being no tract record, as about what to do with a wine like this, but not about its Olivier Humbrecht readily points out himself – that it will being imposing and well-balanced despite the extremity of become more complex and seductively drinkable as it its analysis. There being so many other candidates for matures, as well as perhaps more reflective of its great site. cellaring, it hardly seems worth noting that in all likelihood How many decades it will age cannot really be predicted this already delicious wine would keep well for at least 6-8 either. And who knows when or whether such a wine will years. be harvested again in the Hengst by a Humbrechts, seeing it took 48 years for the first such wine to fall from their 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht presses? Gewurztraminer Hengst Rating: 89 ”For me, Gewurztraminer is a powerful wine,:” says Olivier 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht Humbrecht, “and 2007 is well-adapted to this grape,” a Gewurztraminer Herrenweg de Turckheim comment one might want to ponder while tasting his 2007 Vieilles Vignes Gewurztraminer Hengst with its 15.8% alcohol Rating: 93 (considerably less, granted, than the 2005) and still 26 Drink 2010 - 2025 grams of residual sugar. Asked why he harvested this ”For Gewurztraminer,” opines Olivier Humbrecht, “you almost at the end, Humbrecht replied “It was just need a long, long growing season, and then a burst of heat developing nicely; beautiful botrytis; and it was the first at the end, like a creme brulee,” an image one might want to time in the history of the estate when we had the possibility bear in mind in approaching his 2007 Gewurztraminer to think ‘let’s maybe try to do selections in the Hengst for Herrenweg de Turckheim Vieilles Vignes, which ascended once,’ which we also did.” Smoked meat, brown spices, and to 15.8% alcohol and still left behind 42 grams of residual resinous herbs play the leading roles here right from the sugar. The extra element of botrytis managed it seems to start; and the aromatic pungency translates into a concentrate the acids as well, so that there is enough sense voluminous and impressively expansive as well as gripping of freshness to enliven this hugely rich, voluminous, palate. There’s a certain amount of heat here, but the stunningly succulent palate. Somehow, I searched in vain alcohol also accentuates the wine’s low-toned, bitter herbal for heat. Mint chocolate, litchi, rose petal, licorice, caramel, and smoky character. And my gums got numb, even with and honey all play prominent roles in this gaudy the sizzling intensity of cinnamon stick and ginger in the extravaganza. I expect it to be worth following for 15 or finish. Whether this will ever refine itself I won’t speculate, more years, but one should monitor it in case alcoholic heat but if you cellar it do so warily. were to emerge. 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Wintzenheim Gewurztraminer Herrenweg Turckheim Rating: 92 Rating: 91 From young vines in the Hengst and an old parcel on the Zind-Humbrecht’s 2007 Gewurztraminer Herrenweg de valley floor, Humbrecht’s 2007 Gewurztraminer Turckheim smells of sweet pea, celery seed, litchi, peach Wintzenheim is in all but name vendange tardive, and was preserves, bacon fat and browned butter. Polished and slow to ferment even to the degree that it did. “At first,” he honeyed, creamy and sultry (but without its 15.5% alcohol says, “I thought it would be too high in sugar and too low in generating objectionable heat) it finishes with remarkable alcohol (at 12.8%) but eventually the style grew on me.” It reserves of primary juiciness and nips of cress and white didn’t take that long in my case! Intensely floral, with rose pepper which – no doubt along with sheer extract – help petal, lily, and linden wafting throughout, this gives a keep its sweetness from becoming cloying. lusciously confectionary performance on a remarkably buoyant palate, featuring marzipan, nougat, butter cream,

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orange liqueur, and preserving a primary sense of grape and memorably unusual finish. This striking act of nature seems citrus juiciness to keep the finish from cloying. This velvet- to be waiting for completion, and perhaps it’s simply a textured Gewurztraminer might well be worth cellaring– matter of giving the wine sufficient time in bottle to knit. it’s hard to say without any precedent for it at this address – As with several of its siblings, watchful cellaring would but don’t miss out on it short-term as a dessert wine. seem to be the best course.

2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht Muscat d'Alsace Herrenweg Turckheim Pinot Gris Calcaire Rating: 89 Rating: 88 Drink 2010 - 2015 Drink 2010 - 2014 Olivier Humbrecht thinks that with increasingly warm, From young vines in the Clos Windsbuhl, Zind- early vintages, the red and white strains of Muscat d’Alsace Humbrecht’s 2007 Pinot Gris Calcaire shares with the – though harder to ripen – will promote better acidity and corresponding Herrenweg its litchi, fungus, and honey; its rot-resistence, and with new plantings coming on line, his enveloping richness; and (though lower in alcohol) its hint 2007 Muscat d’Alsace Herrenweg is now minority Ottonel. of heat. Peach compote drizzled with caramel on a creamy Completely dry and at just under 14% alcohol, this smells palate sets you up for a soothing finish but one lacking the of apricot, gooseberry, portabella, and sage. Corpulent, yet engaging spiciness of the Herrenweg. I suspect this will be invigorating in its cress, tart fruit skin, and cress, it evinces best enjoyed over the next 3-4 years. an underlying sense of smoked meat as well as things musky and fungal. This should be fascinating and versatile 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht over at least the next 3-5 years, but it is by no means a Tokay Pinot Gris Clos Jebsal classic of its type, and in casting about for food-pairing Selection de Grains Noble intuition, you might want to imagine it as a cross between Rating: 94 Muscat d’Alsace and Pinot Noir! The Zind-Humbrecht 2007 Pinot Gris Clos Jebsal Selection de Grains Nobles – at 9.5% alcohol – is not one of those 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht nectars (two of which were also produced at this estate in Pinot Gris Clos Windsbuhl 2007) that barely legally became wine. In some respects, Rating: 91 though, it is Eszcencia-like. Both its enormous residual The Zind-Humbrecht 2007 Pinot Gris Clos Windsbuhl is sugar and the highest acidity of the vintage are less another exercise in extremity, not only on account of its noticeable on the palate than on paper, and it is nearly harboring 15.3% alcohol – at 9 grams residual sugar – but weightless as well as viscous in feel. Marzipan, apricot for having taken longer than the vintage’s V.T.s or S.G.N.s preserves, and honey – tinged with mint and cinnamon – to ferment. Smoky black tea, peat, and grilled peach on the are the principle players on a stage that for now is as nose follow on a voluminous, oily palate, along with saline, remarkable as its cast of characters. The levitational purity chalky notes surprising in a wine this overwhelmingly ripe, here is extraordinary, but it will need years for this to and helping to convey some counterpoint in a finish that – evolve, and one should think in terms of three or more almost miraculously – is (for now at least) heat-free. Like decades’ lifespan. the corresponding Rangen, this is difficult to describe and completely unique in my experience, but I am more 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht optimistic both about employing this short term at the Tokay Pinot Gris Clos Jebsal dinner table (though perhaps a dish that is rich enough Vendange Tardive would result in overkill) and about cellaring it for at least 6- Rating: 94 8 years … attentively, of course. With the Humbrechts’ 2007 Pinot Gris Clos Jebsal Vendange Tardive we enter the realm of decidedly lower 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht alcohol (around 11%) and higher sugar (around 100 grams). Tokay Pinot Gris Rangen Clos St Urbain Mandarins, banana, pineapple, mint, sage flower, gardenia, Rating: 90 and heliotrope soar from the glass, then converge on a At 15.2%, the Humbrechts’ 2007 Pinot Gris Rangen Clos creamy, practically weightless palate, with caramelized Saint Urbain is alcoholically lighter than recent extreme mirabelle, grapefruit, and peach preserves adding to the renditions, thanks in this instance to having left behind litany. Thanks to a lively sense of citrus juiciness noticeable residual sugar. Intense peat, iodine, smoked throughout – and no doubt also to high extract – the meat, and game make for an impression combining glorious finish of this buoyant elixir is not in the least elements of malt whisky and Syrah, although there are also cloying. No doubt it could be happily revisited over the recognizable allusions to pit fruits. In the mouth the wine is next 30 years. oily and quite viscous, with its smoky and carnal elements following through a long, slightly warm, slightly sweet,

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2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht diminish, and the wine will almost certainly have held up, Tokay Pinot Gris Heimbourg but will its alcohol by be more evident? Rating: 90 On account of hail (and a consequent, precautionary early 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht harvest) the crop for Zind-Humbrecht’s 2007 Pinot Gris Tokay Pinot Gris Vieilles Vignes Heimbourg was negligible. Swinging from one extreme to Rating: 91 another, here the Pinot Gris galloped down under 2 grams of residual sugar (at 14% alcohol). “Since this isn’t a style Humbrecht’s 2007 Pinot Gris Vieilles Vignes is in all but that people associate with us,” says Olivier Humbrecht, name vendange tardive, packing considerable botrytis “I’m glad to have done it.” (Now there speaks a wine- character and 85 grams of residual sugar. “That’s the way making adventurer, as opposed to a wine-marketer!) the vineyard wanted to go, so I didn’t try to stop it,” he Truffle, sauteed champignons, smoked meat, pistachio remarks. But the law would have required that he postpone extract, kirsch, and ripe peach on the nose lead to an oily, the harvest in order to declare it as V.T. Deep golden, richly textured palate that is shot through with fresh lemon. redolent of sauteed mushroom, bacon fat, peach preserves, Sheer dryness serves for a certain sense of austerity, and pink grapefruit marmalade, and honey, this is almost pulpy this is by no means entirely knit yet, but for all of its power in its richness and palpable sense of extract, with both it projects energy, too, and will be fascinating to follow – creamy and surprisingly juicy primary fruit aspects. The vigilantly! – in coming years. finish here is Gewurztraminer-like in its persistence of

bacon and brown spices. Drink this as dessert wine young, 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht or cellar for 10-20 years. In the era when this estate had Tokay Pinot Gris Herrenweg de Turckheim only one wine labeled “Tokay-Pinot Gris,” the then Vendanges Tardive routinely dry wines from these old vines of mysterious Rating: 90 selection massale could age effortlessly for two decades. Raw mushroom, wood smoke, back tea, and lemon oil in the nose of Zind-Humbrecht’s 2007 Pinot Gris Herrenweg 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht de Turckheim Vendange Tardive signal strong botrytis that Tokay Pinot Gris Rotenberg is confirmed on a honeyed, caramelized, oily palate. Rating: 90 Apricot and quince preserves figure prominently as well, Left with 29 grams residual sugar even after ascending well laced with smoke and with a saline streak that – along with over 14% alcohol, the Zind-Humbrecht 2007 Pinot Gris a remarkable element of fresh citrus – offer welcome Rotenberg features apricot, pear, and brown spices on the contrast to the wine’s sheer sweetness in its impressively nose and a palpably dense but not flatteringly creamy persistent finish. This did not represent a selection, but palate. High-toned distilled pit fruit notes tend to accentuate rather a block picking of one parcel. I expect it will age the spirituous impression of slight alcoholic heat, but this well for a dozen or more years, and perhaps to the stage finishes with impressive tenacity of fruit, fruit pits, and where the sweetness backs off a bit, though right now its spice, and with a sense of sweetness less than the analysis sheer richness as well as sweetness pretty much confine its would have led one to expect. use to after dinner or with select strong cheeses.

2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht Pinot d'Alsace Tokay Pinot Gris Herrenweg Turckheim Rating: 89 Rating: 90 The analytically bone-dry Zind-Humbrecht 2007 Pinot Noble botrytis elevated the sugars in Pinot Gris in 2007 to d’Alsace (they resist the almost universal conversion to an extent that it did not in other varieties, says Humbrecht, misleading “Pinot Blanc” on the label – this, for example, is and his 2007 Pinot Gris Herrenweg de Turckheim ended up two-thirds Auxerrois and 2-3% Pinot Noir) smells of fresh with 15.6% alcohol and still – at 20 grams residual sugar - peach, orange, hazelnut, and a hint of mushroom. Subtly slightly sweet-tasting. Apricot, litchi, pineapple, candied creamy yet refreshing – its low ripeness and sheer extract ginger and orange rind, sauteed mushroom, and honey in (notwithstanding levity) lending a faint suggestion of the nose get folded into a butter-cream like palate, whose sweetness – it finishes with hints of chalk and iodine. thickness and emerging caramel tone becomes almost toffee like in the wine’s brown-spiced, faintly warm finish. After a 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht year in bottle, the heat here was still acceptably restrained, Zind and there was even a slight sense of invigoration from citrus Rating: 90 zest and tactile spice. You could try pairing this with Drink 2010 - 2018 equally rich, sweet dishes; you could just sip it on its own; The 2007 Zind represents – as it has in the last several or you could wait a decade for the sense of sweetness to vintages – a 70-30 blend of Chardonnay and Auxerrois

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entirely from the Clos Windsbuhl, the Auxerrois and true on which opinions will vary, one of extraordinary Pinot Blanc from the Herrenweg now going into a separate brightness and density, austere, yet delivering corpse- blend. Clover, orange blossom, lime, fresh apple, and quickening invigoration. Fresh ginger, mint, tart pineapple, hazelnut on the nose lead to a silken-textured mouthful of and distilled yellow plum on the nose join with practically apple accented by citrus oils, toasted hazelnut, and scallop- searing lemon and grapefruit citricity and correspondingly like saline-sweet mineral savor, with subtle spice from cask pungent zest. Marine salinity and vivid chalkiness utterly and reinforcement of creaminess from the malo-lactic saturate the palate all the way through a long, penetrating transformation. For all of its richness, this is refreshing and finish. This taut, dense, brash, backward wine is I believe a (at only 12.6% alcohol) buoyant. It can be enjoyed over the classic such as would have been more easily recognized 20 next 6-8 years. I’ve been skeptical about some vintages of or more years ago. Taste it soon, just for the record, then this cuvee, but 2007 seems ideally suited to what wait a decade and follow it for its second decade. If this Humbrecht is trying to achieve, plus his knack for gains more nuance it could prove to be an extraordinary achieving it is no doubt enhanced by experience. exponent of its site, and as an experiment it is both intriguing and delicious. 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht Riesling 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht Rating: 88 Riesling Rangen de Thann Clos St Urbain Zind-Humbrecht’s 2007 Riesling – incorporating, inter alia, Rating: 93 fruit from Gueberschwihr, one tiny parcel of Brand, and Drink 2010 - 2025 young vines from the Rangen – is dominated by lime and Harvested October 3, its alcoholic fermentation very late apple, tinged with pistachio and iodine. It exhibits some but complete (at 13.1% alcohol, just 2 grams of residual genuine textural richness for all of its brightness and mere sugar were left!), Humbrecht’s 2007 Riesling Rangen Clos 12.5% alcohol, and finishes dry and refreshing. A sweet yet Saint Urbain is marked by extreme smokiness often 15.4% alcohol generic Gewurztraminer was far less associated with this site, along with struck flint notes of a successful, and Humbrecht essayed no generic 2007 Pinot reductive sort that it exhibited also in cask. Grapefruit rind Gris. pungency and pineapple prickle inform a lean, bright, faintly oily palate and the wine lunges for your palate in the 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht finish, gripping tightly with salt, iodine, peat, Szechuan Riesling Gueberschwihr pepper, and citrus oils. This, Humbrecht agrees, might be Rating: 90 thought of as a marriage of the 2001 and 1996 renditions, Drink 2010 - 2020 except that it’s cleaner then either. You can expect it to Another completely dry Zind-Humbrecht bottling, the 2007 need 6-8 years to reveal its true potential and to be a 15 or Riesling Gueberschwihr reminds me of 1996 with its hint of more year keeper. white truffle (not to mention its lemony acidity and pronounced – in this instance chalky – minerality). Diverse 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht flowers and white peach add fascination and add to the Riesling Thann alluring aspects of this wine, but the finish is almost Rating: 90 painfully citric and implacably mineral, with pips and Like Zind-Humbrecht’s corresponding Turckheim bottling iodine adding interest (or, depending on your viewpoint, from young vines in the Brand, the 2007 Riesling Thann insult to injury). Frankly, I find the wine exhilarating, not to does not display recognizable traits of the Rangen in which mention intriguing and formidably concentrated, suspecting it grew, but it offers a lot to like, especially if the severity that it will have interesting youthful applications and prove and brightness that characterize many of this year’s Z-H worth following for 8-10 years. Rieslings are a bit too much for you. (This bottling went through malo.) Musk, peach, and high-toned floral 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht distillates on the nose usher in a subtly oily, silken palate Riesling Clos Windsbuhl underlain by meat stock, soy, and lobster shell reduction. A Rating: 93 subtle hint of sweetness helps underscore the richness on After waiting in vain for botrytis while he picked a range of tap here, leading to soothing persistence. V.T. and S.G.N. wines elsewhere, Humbrecht finally harvested a 2007 Riesling Clos Windsbuhl that fermented to one gram of sugar, yet still barely over 13% alcohol, 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht confirming his observation that grape sugar levels hit a Riesling Brand plateau this year, but not their flavor evolution! From cask, Rating: 95 this was almost painfully raw and long shrouded in Drink 2010 - 2025 fermentative aromas (it was never racked) but the outlines The Zind-Humbrecht 2007 Riesling Brand – from the of what would emerge were already discernable of a wine densely granitic Steinglitz portion of this cru – smells

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gorgeously of iris, lily-of-the-valley, linden, white peach, and grapefruit. Plush and tenderly palate-saturating, dry- 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht tasting at 10 grams residual sugar, its hints of tart and bitter Riesling Turckheim red currant, grapefruit rind, peach pit, hazelnut, and sage Rating: 88 offer dynamic counterpoint with its generosity of fruit and Drink 2010 - 2016 texture, persisting with uncanny tenacity, clarity, lift, and From vines in the Brand that were planted between 1978 energy as well as mysteriously marine minerality and and 1990, the Zind-Humbrecht 2007 Riesling Turckheim scallop-like sweet-saline savor. This will be exciting to and is another example of the ability of this vintage’s follow over the next 12-15 years if not longer. Riesling to go analytically dry yet maintain modest alcohol. Muscat-like notes of lemon zest and resin mingle with 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht white peach and inform a rather austerely bright, Riesling Brand invigoratingly saline palate. Notes of iodine and peach pit Vieilles Vignes add piquant intensity and persistence to the finish, though Rating: (96-97) they do nothing to diminish the wine’s sense of sass and The Humbrecht’s 2007 Riesling Brand Vieilles Vignes pungency. I don’t detect any specifically Brand character, (tasted from cask) was picked already September 16 in the but then, years of root penetration are critical to quality in Schneckelsburg (or Schneckenburg), just above the Clos this granitic site whose chalky layer is buried deep. I would Jebsal, and allowed to stop fermenting at 13% alcohol and a plan on drinking this over the next 5-6 years, though it supportive but barely noticeable 20 grams of residual sugar. might mellow into something quite different and enjoyable. A stunning, haunting nose of rowan, linden, iris, licorice, resin, white peach, and sea breeze foreshadows the elusive complexities of a palate combining sumptuous richness and 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht subtle oiliness with lift and refreshment. This finishes Riesling Clos Hauserer almost torrentially, with salt, iodine, and peat staining its Rating: 91 waves of fruit and nut oils, while floral perfume billows Drink 2010 - 2022 persistently overhead. Get lost in it as soon as you can lay For some Riesling lovers’ tastes, though, it will be overly hands on a bottle and for the next several years. Then lose austere and aggressive. With virtually the same balance as some in your cellar for two decades or more Humbrecht’s dry (5 gram residual sugar) generic bottling, the 2007 Riesling Clos Hauserer leads with lemon, 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht pineapple, and hints of smoked meat. Bitter notes of lemon Riesling Heimbourg pip, iodine, and juniper berry offer invigorating contrast on Rating: (89-90+) a palate of bright refreshment, underlain with a decisive Drink 2010 - 2020 sense of chalk. Lean yet full of sap and palpably dense, this The Zind-Humbrecht 2007 Riesling Heimbourg (from cask) persuasive, penetrating, vibrant young Riesling should be is so ripe and glycerin-rich that even with only around 9 worth following for at least a dozen years. This was grams of residual sugar, it suggests an altogether positive extremely backward in its evolution in cask – as befits “a hint of sweetness. Honeysuckle, lily-of-the-valley, and backward terroir,” points out Humbrecht – and no report apricot on the nose lead to a lush, creamy, quite buoyant based on a 2008 tasting would have been able to do it palate of ripe apricot and white peach, suffused with chalk justice. dust and tinged with fresh ginger and honey. The acidity shows as slightly detached citricity. I suspect this will be 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht slow to evolve in bottle and keep well for at least a decade. Muscat Goldert Rating: 91 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht Drink 2010 - 2020 Riesling Herrenweg Turckheim The Zind-Humbrecht 2007 Muscat d’Alsace Goldert Rating: 89 displays faintly fungal notes analogous to the Portabellas Drink 2010 - 2017 that I smelled on their Herrenweg bottling, but increasingly In greatest possible contrast with his Clos Hauserer, as the wine aired, lemon, cress, wintergreen, and a musky Humbrecht’s 2007 Riesling Herrenweg de Turckheim was hint of narcissus came to dominate. Pungently zesty and expressive early on in its evolution and is lovely for herbal, it displays chalky and saline mineral streaks that add drinking over the next 5-7 years. It’s entirely dry, yet this it the interest and invigoration of a penetrating, dry, lip- year that meant running the alcohol up only as high as smacking, saliva-inducing finish. This will be worth 13.5%, and the wine is still buoyant. Lime, fig, and apricot utilizing for 8-10 years. inform the nose and a juicy, lush palate, with licorice and cardamom nicely spicing a satisfyingly long finish.

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