Famille Hugel
Gewurztraminer VENDANGE TARDIVE 2011
great specialty for several generations of the Hugel family, who drafted the law on late harvest.
Wine with great power and longevity to taste religiously by itself during a special occasion.
Wine with great power and longevity to taste religiously by itself during a special occasion.
Specifications
Alcohol content : 12.86° % vol.
Residual Sugar : 81 g/l
Tartaric acidity : 4.47 g/l
pH : 3.87
Age of vines : 36 years old
Yield : 27 hl/ha hL/ha
Presentation
Quick View
These wines made from overripe grapes are picked well after the classic vintage and in the greatest years only. The action of noble rot (botrytis cinerea) gives them an almost unlimited ability to age. They are part of the elite of the greatest wines in France.
The vintage
Harsh winter of 2011 with 26 days below zero. Early budding on April 7, May warm and dry and flowering 15 days ahead of time. Summer cool, damp and gloomy. Return to idyllic weather two weeks before harvest started on September 12, without any precipitation from beginning to end.
Excellent maturity in a fair size crop with soft acidity. Wines already charming, easy to approach and early to drink soon after bottling.
Excellent maturity in a fair size crop with soft acidity. Wines already charming, easy to approach and early to drink soon after bottling.
In the vineyard
Produced from over-ripened grapes in a selection of the oldest plots of the Hugel estate in the heart of the grand cru Sporen made up of Lias clay-marl, decalcified on the surface, exceptionally rich in phosphoric acid
Date of harvest : 14 October 2011
Potential alcohol : 17°7
Date of harvest : 14 October 2011
Potential alcohol : 17°7
Winemaking
The grapes are taken in small tubs to the presses, which are filled by gravity, without any pumping or other mechanical intervention.
After pressing, the must is decanted for a few hours, then fermented in temperature-controlled barrels or vats (at 18 to 24°C). The wine is racked just once, before natural clarification during the course of the winter. The following spring, the wine is lightly filtered just before bottling, and the bottles are then aged extensively in our cellars until released for sale.
After pressing, the must is decanted for a few hours, then fermented in temperature-controlled barrels or vats (at 18 to 24°C). The wine is racked just once, before natural clarification during the course of the winter. The following spring, the wine is lightly filtered just before bottling, and the bottles are then aged extensively in our cellars until released for sale.
Presentation
Photos of bottles and labels, 3 definitions, max 300dpi
Varietal
Gewürztraminer : 100%
Specifications
Alcohol content : : 12.86° % vol.
Residual Sugar : : 81 g/l
Tartaric acidity : : 4.47 g/l
pH : : 3.87
Age of vines : : 36 years old
Yield : : 27 hl/ha hL/ha
Advice
Tasting notes by Serge Dubs, World's Best Sommelier 1989
This wine has a sparkling, crystalline, youthful and concentrated colour with pale green, pale lemon yellow and spring foliage coloured highlights. The legs are dense, sophisticated and smooth. It has a superb and open, expressive, scented aromatic and fruity nose. Hints of rose, jasmine, Reseda, acacia blossom, mango, citron, orange, lychee, passion fruit and freesia. It has a refined yet youthful lightness of being. On the palate it has that same sensation of captivating harmony.
Best served between 6° and 8° C. Ideal for immediate consumption or in 3 years. This wine will be excellent in 15 to 20 years, a little less sweet and best served at 8°C.
Can be consumed for what it is, the pleasure of enjoying an exceptional, fine and refined sweet white wine.
I am always deeply impressed by the know-how and craft of the Hugel family in their perfectly regular and precise production of late harvest wines of such refinement and elegance.
This VT 2011 meets their very high standards perfectly thanks to the purity of its expression, its global equilibrium making it smooth with an intrinsic sweetness which surfs on a perfectly rounded yet seemingly endless wave of elegance and sophistication leading to a final note that is a firework display of flavour and aroma.
Serve with foie gras, blue cheese, Roquefort, Stilton. Or with dessert: fruit tarts: figs, pineapples, cake, apples, pears, mango soufflé.
Even at the end of the meal, or as an aperitif just for the pleasure of enjoying it for what it is.
Best served between 6° and 8° C. Ideal for immediate consumption or in 3 years. This wine will be excellent in 15 to 20 years, a little less sweet and best served at 8°C.
Can be consumed for what it is, the pleasure of enjoying an exceptional, fine and refined sweet white wine.
I am always deeply impressed by the know-how and craft of the Hugel family in their perfectly regular and precise production of late harvest wines of such refinement and elegance.
This VT 2011 meets their very high standards perfectly thanks to the purity of its expression, its global equilibrium making it smooth with an intrinsic sweetness which surfs on a perfectly rounded yet seemingly endless wave of elegance and sophistication leading to a final note that is a firework display of flavour and aroma.
Serve with foie gras, blue cheese, Roquefort, Stilton. Or with dessert: fruit tarts: figs, pineapples, cake, apples, pears, mango soufflé.
Even at the end of the meal, or as an aperitif just for the pleasure of enjoying it for what it is.
