Zind-Humbrecht | Alsace | Gewürztraminer Heimbourg, Sélection de Grains Nobles | 2005 | 375ml

Beschreibung

Product description for Zind-Humbrecht Gewürztraminer Heimbourg, Sélection de Grains Nobles 2005

Christina Hilker: On the nose, the 2005 Gewurztraminer Heimbourg Sélection de Grains Nobles smells of roses, rose oil, elderflowers, lavender, and boxwood. This floral aroma is accompanied by sweet, ripe fruits such as peach, apple, pear, pineapple, and mango. Sweet aromas of beeswax and honey beautifully round out the delicate aroma.

Colour

Sparkling amber.

Nose

On the nose, the 2005 Gewurztraminer Heimbourg Sélection de Grains Nobles smells of roses, rose oil, elderflowers, lavender, and boxwood. This floral aroma is accompanied by sweet, ripe fruits such as peach, apple, pear, pineapple, and mango. Sweet aromas of beeswax and honey beautifully round out the delicate aroma.

Palate

Sweet and incredibly concentrated, the 2005 Gewurztraminer Heimbourg Sélection de Grains Nobles hits the tongue. Its stimulating acidity and subtle bitter notes, reminiscent of green tea, give it a piquant and challenging quality. Induces dreams and, despite its fullness and concentration, is very uplifting! The Gewürztraminer grape is more resistant to noble rot due to its thick skin, which explains why Pinot Gris Trockenbeerenauslese is more frequently produced. In 2005, however, the opportunity arose (last in 1989!) to produce a Gewürztraminer Trockenbeerenauslese in this vineyard thanks to excellent weather conditions and the intensity of the noble rot infestation. Once the acidity balance was perfect, the grapes were carefully selected, knowing that the wine could handle a very high sugar concentration. The only drawback is that production is microscopically small (1,000 half bottles from 1 hectare). The nose reveals incredibly delicate scents of old roses, lychee, orange marmalade, candied fruit, and delightful honey notes. The palate knows how to conceal the sweetness very well behind the soft, velvety structure and, like the nose, presents a tremendous array of sweet fruits. A complex, harmonious Trockenbeerenauslese with a long finish and full of finesse.

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Keywords: Zind-Humbrecht Gewürztraminer Heimbourg, Sélection de Grains Nobles 2005 Alsace France

Wine Advocate

Score: 94

If you regard the level of ripeness exhibited by Zind-Humbrecht’s Heimbourg Pinot Gris S.G.N. as formidable, then consider that the 2005 Gewurztraminer Heimbourg Selection de Grains Nobles (from the lowest, most-protected portion of that vineyard) made it all the way to 12% alcohol and still retains 240 grams of residual sugar! Here too, the level of acidity was exceptionally high by any standard. “The only drawback,” remarks Humbrecht, “is that the production is only 1000 half bottles from a hectare.” Exhibiting more peach and apricot preserve yet, paradoxically, slightly less litchi or brown spice in the nose than the corresponding Pinot Gris, this also offers a honeyed, candied pink grapefruit note reminiscent of Scheurebe. In the mouth, one is confronted with a viscous elixir so intense and sweet it almost blinds one to flavor or textural nuance. The overall impression is somewhat candied but there is still levity thanks to powerful acidity. Butterscotch and anise join the honey-drenched, caramelized peach, apricot and litchi in a sweet finish that followed me even when it was high time to get on with tasting the next wine! Not only is this likely to flourish for a quarter century or more in the bottle, I really wouldn’t care to revisit it for at least a decade, by which time the sweetness will have toned down, and the flavors and textures will become more differentiated – and probably downright magical. _x000D_
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Olivier Humbrecht compares his 2004s with 1992. These were the two most copious vintages of recent times, delivering truly dry wines with quite high acidity. Although he characterized 2004 as more precocious than 2005, Humbrecht kept harvesting through early November, insisting that this was only possible due to his stringent, biodynamic viticultural practices and consequent generally healthy fruit. Humbrecht insists too that he did not seek botrytis, as rain was rendering noble rot nearly impossible. But it certainly seems sometimes as if botrytis sought out him! One price for his protracted harvest was elevated alcohol, which some wines struck me as hard-pressed to gracefully support; and acid levels too occasionally reached extremes. Overall, in fact, I have never tasted such a wide rage of quality nor so many unusually distinctive and at times downright inscrutable wines at this address as those of 2004. Two thousand five, relates Humbrecht, brought ample botrytis, especially with Pinot Gris, but later ripeness, again with formidable acid and extract levels thanks to the cool, well-watered August. Nearly all of the Riesling musts fermented dry. Humbrecht considers it a classic vintage for (in most instances dry-tasting) Gewurztraminer. And despite the blanket of rot that descended on the Pinot Gris vineyards, a cold, virtually cloudless five day period permitted patient and rigorous selection of fruit. A tribute to the ripeness and high tartaric acidity of these 2005s is that although well more than half of his lots of Riesling and Pinot Gris underwent malolactic transformation, an experienced taster would be hard-pressed to identify which! “Had we had the challenging October of 2004 in 2005 as well,” he says, “most ‘04s would be better than the ‘05s.” But as things turned out – October 2005 having been the second warmest after 2001 in the last decade – Humbrecht believes that in the long run these two collections will prove well matched in overall quality._x000D_
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Importer: The Sorting Table, Napa, CA; tel. (415) 491-4724
David Schildknecht

Vinous

Score: 94

(192o Oechsle; the first bottling under this label since the ’94; just 400 liters made; nearly 12% alcohol with about 240 g/l r.s.) Deep full, bright gold. High-toned aromas of peach, apricot, honey and caramel. Wonderfully thick, smooth and round, with a deeply honeyed character and great density and solidity of texture. More deeply pitched than the tokay SGNs, with extravagant sweetness but not quite the verve of the Clos Jebsal. From an October 20 picking, among the latest for the domain in 2005. The very long finish coats the palate with honey.
— Stephen Tanzer
Drinking window:
Review date: Jul 2007

Producer website: http://www.zindhumbrecht.fr/