Famille Hugel, Classic, Riesling, AOC Alsace, Blanc, 2024

This is the Famille Hugel signature wine. This dry Riesling stands out for its finesse and frankness and is the ideal partner to fish and seafood thanks to its wonderful balance and elegance.

Presentation

Quick View
Riesling is the Pinot Noir of white wines! It is our most demanding variety as it is also the latest ripening. Dry and elegant, it expresses itself best on our steepest slopes with the most complex minerality.
The vintage
The winter of 2024 was one of the mildest—and above all, one of the wettest—of the past decade. A few nights of severe frost occurred in early December, but for the remainder of the season, temperatures stayed above freezing.
As winter came to an end, groundwater levels in Alsace were at 150% of normal capacity, providing a generous reserve to carry the vineyards through much of the spring and summer. Budbreak occurred during the first week of April, and by April 10th, the vines had already reached the 3-leaf stage. Unseasonably warm weather—10°C above average, with two consecutive weekends reaching 25°C—was suddenly replaced after April 15th by cold, gloomy conditions. Frost warnings were even issued for northern France. Temperatures dropped to 5°C below seasonal norms, with nighttime lows around 5°C and daytime highs struggling to reach 10°C (!).
This chilly and extremely wet weather persisted until mid-July, putting considerable stress on the vines. The 2024 harvest owes much of its survival to the relentless efforts of our vineyard teams, who worked tirelessly to rescue a growing season that had started off poorly.
Relief finally came with summer, and a sunny, warm month of August helped the vines make up for lost time. Although the official harvest window opened on September 9th, Hugel began picking on September 23rd.
In the vineyard
Made exclusively from hand harvested grapes from predominantly clay and limestone vineyards, in a dozen of the most favored localities in and around Riquewihr. A cool and long growing season give this unique dry wine great finesse and unequalled intensity.
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 vats (at 18°C 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 in our cellars until released for sale. The whole production of this wine is closed with DIAM the cork without the risk of cork taint.
Varietal
Riesling : 100%
Specifications
Alcohol content : : 12.04 % vol.
Residual Sugar : : 1.3 g/l
Tartaric acidity : : 6.20 g/l
pH : : 3.17
Age of vines : : 32 years old
Yield : : 65 hL/ha

Advice

Tasting
The robe's sparkling youthfulness give it eye-catching bright green highlights. At first this Riesling’s aromas are dashing, well-stated and floral, opening with hints of lily of the valley, elderflower and lively citrus zest. With age it takes on rocky hints of flint, tinder, hydrocarbons. The perfectly dry flavour detonates with life, energy and a clearly stated attack that remains without greenness and opens up the appetite. Lemon, lime and yusu zest roll around the mouth right up to the acidic, delicate and addictive final note.