Gewurztraminer Hugel 2013

The great speciality of our region. Only in Alsace does the aromatic expressiveness of this variety attain such summits.
Spicy and suave, it can be enjoyed on its own, but makes a marvellous accompaniment to all rich, spicy dishes, smoked fish, Oriental dishes.

Presentation

Quick View
Originally from northern Italy, this is the emblematic grape of our region due to its slow maturation with cool nights giving its full varietal expression. Dry but intensely aromatic.
The vintage
Rarely have we seen a vintage subject to so many variations in the weather.
The season started late with a damp spring and coulure, causing a smaller than usual crop.
High temperatures and exceptional summer weather brought the grapes to perfect levels of maturity.
Right from the start of our harvest on 1 October the grapes were very healthy and ripe, and so 2013 was a classic Alsace vintage of intense, pure, well balanced wines.
Uneven weather at the very end of the harvest prevented any significant production of Late Harvest wines.
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 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 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.
Presentation
Photos of bottles and labels, 3 definitions, max 300dpi
Varietal
Gewürztraminer : 100%
Specifications
Alcohol content : : 13.18° % vol.
Residual Sugar : : 10.2 g/l
Tartaric acidity : : 4.71 g/l
pH : : 3.43
Age of vines : : 30 years old
Yield : : 55 hl/ha hL/ha

Advice

Video
Tasting notes by Serge Dubs, World's Best Sommelier 1989
Lively, very young colour, pale green, clear, remarkably bright, deep and intense despite its youthful age.

The bouquet is frank and open, refined, elegant, perfectly aromatic and perfumed yet not exuberant.

All in all, this wine is bewitchingly expressive, yet still full of freshness.
Fresh pineapple, mango, passion fruit, white peach, ginger, rose, jasmine, mignonette, lily...

On the palate it is dry, slightly taut, juicily crunchy, soft, supple and nicely balanced. Its finish explodes with fruit and perfume, yet is not heavy... and it is perfectly capable of charming you into a second glass...

A wine to drink now or within 2 or 3 years.

Serve it chilled at 8°C as an aperitif, with slightly spicy cuisine, Chinese, Moroccan or Indonesian, with lobster and crayfish tails, or with strong cheeses : munster, maroilles.

After ageing for 2 or 3 years, serve it with white meat, veal, pork and game birds, pheasant, partridge.