Gewurztraminer VENDANGE TARDIVE 2012

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.

Presentation

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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
12 days of bitter cold in February (-18°C), budburst early April, flowering spread over 3 weeks.
Damp early summer but superb August. Harvest began on 24 September. Superb grapes. Patchy weather during part of the harvest then fine sunny intervals. Fine well-balanced classic wines, similar to 2011 but richer and with more depth, yet already accessible. Hugel did not make any SGN in 2012.
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 : ...
Potential alcohol : ...
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.
Presentation
Photos of bottles and labels, 3 definitions, max 300dpi
Varietal
Gewürztraminer : 100%
Specifications
Alcohol content : : 10.7 % vol.
Residual Sugar : : 99 g/l
Tartaric acidity : : 4.16 g/l
pH : : 3.94
Age of vines : : 37 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 voluptuously smooth.
It has the classic bouquet of a well-ripened Gewürztraminer but is not too mature; it is open, expressive, aromatic and fruity.
Hints of rose, jasmine, Reseda, acacia blossom, mango, citron, orange, lychee, passion fruit, freesia, honey and sweet spices.
On the palate it has that same sensation of harmony, with a fine and delicate sweetness which coats the interior of the mouth with tender softness that will overwhelm you.
Best served between 6° and 8° C. Ideal for immediate consumption or within 3 years. This wine will be excellent and a little less sweet in 15 to 20 years, best served at 8°C
Can be consumed for what it is, the pleasure of enjoying an exceptional, fine and refined sweet white wine.
Well done for such a fine VT.
Serve with foie gras, strong cheese, Roquefort, Stilton desserts: fruit pie with figs, pineapple, cakes, apples, pears, mango soufflé.
At the end of the meal, or as an aperitif just for the pleasure
Best enjoyed immediately for what it is, for the pleasure of tasting such a high quality Gewürztraminer with such a typical Alsatian character again.
Could be laid down for 5 years best served at 8°
Serve with game terrines, foie gras, strong cheeses, Munster, maroilles or in association with strong flavoured or lightly spiced, Chinese, Moroccan or Indian dishes, desserts or fruit cake, käsküeche.