'Well, what a challenging vintage in France, but what amazing quality!'
- Olivier Humbrecht
2021 was a vintage that tested the mettle of vignerons across France. The warm March was followed by a cruel April frost which wiped out many buds. Alsace is France's driest region, but the next few months were unusually wet. Soon the vineyards were looking lush. When summer heat hit, the humidity meant mildew ran riot. Damaged grapes fell off the bunches. By harvest season, when the vineyards had dried out, Olivier Humbrecht needed fewer picking teams than usual. But he noted that the grapes they were bringing in were high-quality. They fermented fast, and even the Gewurztraminers became bone dry. As Olivier notes, 'absolutely all the wines of 2021 are in the dry category (Indice 1) and sometimes, really super dry with an amazing tension and ripe acidity'.
There have been Humbrechts making wine in Alsace since the 17th century, but under Olivier's stewardship, Zind-Humbrecht has become regarded as one of the world's great white wine domaines. Olivier started from a winning position, inheriting a portfolio that included sites in some of the region's greatest vineyards. They have flourished under his care.
The thin, brick-red soils of Rotenberg produce complex, persistent Pinot Gris. Goldert is one the world's great sites for Muscat. The volcanic soils in the Clos St-Urbain produce sapid, mineral wines that are at least as much about the vineyard as the grape variety. Clos Hauserer has produced a very pure, taut Riesling. While Hengst has always excelled for Gewurztraminer, there is a section of the vineyard which Olivier thought was more naturally suited to Riesling; in 2016, he replanted that section to Riesling, and 2021 is the first vintage to see a Riesling Hengst. It is mineral and intense, 'a wine to keep,' says Olivier. The high, well-ventilated Clos Windsbuhl is always one of Olivier's finest sites and has performed especially well in 2021, with frost and mildew getting less traction here. In 2021 it has made a set of wines of great tension, purity and longevity. /NT
Offered subject to remaining unsold; available Spring 2024
