Zind-Humbrecht: 'unsuspected elegance' in a set of high-scoring 2022s

There have been Humbrechts making wine in Alsace since the 17th century, but under the stewardship of Olivier Humbrecht, 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 great vineyards. He is a ferocious advocate for biodynamic viticulture, and the Herculean levels of care he puts into managing his vineyards are rewarded many times over in his wines. 

2022 was a case in point. It was a hot, dry year, and poorly farmed vines shut down and didn't ripen. But Olivier's vines reacted by ripening more slowly; an ideal response, giving the grapes time to develop full flavour ripeness while keeping acidities high. There are some high critical scores for these wines. In Olivier's words, 'All the wines are expressive and show an unsuspected elegance, resulting from a harmonious combination of minerals, good acidity, ripe tannins, and no residual sweetness where it is not necessary'.

Almost all these 2022s are bone dry; the hot, dry conditions in 2022 didn't lend themselves either to botrytis or a late harvest. Olivier used to aim to make a sweet wine from the Clos Jebsal vineyard, but this year the wine is complex, racy — and bone dry. Only two Gewurztraminers have come out as medium-sweet: Hengst (grapefruit meets lychee) and Windsbuhl (rose petal and mandarin). The Rieslings are classic and linear, the Pinot Gris are complex and spiced. There is a new Riesling grand cru in the line-up, with Olivier having acquired some old vines in the granitic Wineck-Schlossberg grand cru. It is tense and impressive. And as ever, the wines of the Clos St-Urbain enclave within the Rangen vineyard (pictured above) stand apart. The volcanic soils here are unlike anywhere else in Alsace. The vineyard marks whichever varietal is cultivated here with a very strong terroir footprint, which Olivier calls 'peaty'. High praise indeed from a man who also loves Scotch. /NT