Zind-Humbrecht, Riesling, Rangen de Thann, Clos Saint Urbain, Alsace Grand Cru, France 2020

“The straw-yellow colored 2020 Riesling Clos Saint-Urbain Rangen de Thann is clear, intense and very elegant on the nose that indicates generous, ripe fruit with notes of perfectly ripe apricots intermingled with delicate flinty gunpowder and herbal notes from the volcanic rocks of the clos that are expressed pure and refined here, whereas the warmth of the vintage (which was also well supplied with water, especially in August and early September) and perfect timing of harvest is represented in the precise and perfectly ripe fruit. “The speed at which the grapes ripened in 2020 is comparable to 2015,” Olivier explained. He added that “in some vintages, harvesting two days late has no consequences, but in 2020, it could mean that some wines would end up with residual sugar or excessive alcohol.” The 2020 comes in with 13.6% alcohol and is a rich and ample but refined and elegant Riesling Grand Cru with a warm, very charming texture and a long, seriously intense and persistently saline finish that reveals very fine tannins and indicates excellent aging potential. The 2020 is beautifully balanced and already accessible due to 5.5 grams per liter of residual sugar and its fine, mineral acidity, but it still has enough tension to sail as a great and age-worthy Rangen for many years to come. Too charming, you think? Guess which wine would be emptied earlier if 2020 and 2019 were on the table? Bottled in January 2022. Natural cork. Tasted in Wachenheim, Pfalz, in November 2023 and again in March 2024 at home.”-98WA, 2024-2055

With an unbroken winemaking lineage in Alsace since 1620, Domaine Zind-Humbrecht came by its current name in 1959 when Leonard Humbrecht married Genevieve Zind. In the 1960s and 1970s, Leonard was able to expand the winery’s collection of Grands Crus and other high quality vineyards. Since then, one of the hallmarks of every Zind-Humbrecht wine has been its overriding sense of terroir: the taste of the vineyard is always clear and unmistakable.

Zind-Humbrecht is managed by Olivier Humbrecht, one of the world’s only winemakers to attain MW status. His passion for Alsatian wines and Biodynamic farming translates into a portfolio of legendary wines recognizable for their purity, intensity and, above all, their faithful expression of each individual vineyard site.