Zind-Humbrecht | Alsace | Riesling Rangen de Thann Clos-Saint-Urbain Grand Cru | 2014 | 750ml | bio

Description

Product description for Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Rangen de Thann Clos-Saint-Urbain Grand Cru 2014 (bio)

Color

Intense golden yellow with delicate copper reflections.

Nose

The 2014 Riesling Clos Saint Urban Rangen de Thann presents itself with a very powerful and compact nose. It first requires a decanter and plenty of air before its multi-layered opulence slowly emerges. Aromas of apricots, oranges, orange jam, sweet, fragrant blossoms, and honey enchant the palate. Tart and spicy hints of tree bark, yarrow, and dark, damp earth beautifully encompass these charming and sweet aromas. A profound, cool minerality hovers over everything in combination with the typical smoky notes. What a multi-layered work of art is revealed to us here, even on the nose.

Palate

On the palate, the 2014 Riesling Clos Saint Urban Rangen de Thann literally assaults us with abundant yellow fruit combined with exuberant salty minerality and precise acidity, pleasantly challenging the tongue. A Riesling that grabs you and doesn’t let go. Powerful, complex, beautiful, but not yet intended for immediate consumption; best to cellar it, because in a few years, when you drink it, you’ll feel like you’re watching a firework display.

Recommendation

If you want to enjoy it now, be sure to decant it over several hours and serve it in a sufficiently large glass; a few days of opening will allow it to gain more expression.

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Keywords: Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Rangen de Thann Clos-Saint-Urbain Grand Cru 2014 bio Alsace France

Wine Advocate

Score: 94+

2014 was “the most expensive harvest ever” in the history of Zind-Humbrecht, “double the average,” stated Oliver Humbrecht, who yielded only 26.5 hectoliters per hectare in the grand cru vineyards and 42.5 hectoliters per hectare in the generic Alsace AOC. Humbrecht’s intensely golden-colored 2014 Riesling Clos Saint-Urbain Rangen de Thann is still reductive and untamed after all those years and reminiscent of game as well as crushed volcanic stones (or ashes), salts, herbs and lush peaches. This is a full-bodied, intense and very mineral or rocky Rangen with flesh and tension but also a long, saline, finely tannic and, some would even say, austere finish. The 2014 doesn’t show any signs of the fruit fly drosophila suzukii that contaminated so many pink-colored grapes in late August and September with acid rot, which caused severe selections in the vineyards. Due to the cooler month of August, the 2014 Rangen Riesling is marked by lively acidity that Oliver Humbrecht calls “a really unexpected surprise in such a precocious vintage.” In fact, it has at least the same level as the 2013 or 2010. The 2014 Rangen was bottled in February 2016 with 12.5% alcohol and 5.5 grams per liter of residual sugar. Natural cork. Tasted in Wachenheim, Pfalz, in November 2023.
Stephan Reinhardt

Vinous

Score: 94

Pale yellow. Cool aromas of green apple, lychee, chlorophyll, powdered rocks and crystallized ginger, lifted by a whiff of orange peel. Dense and quite dry, displaying superb precision to the stone and spice flavors, which are complemented by a suggestion of chewy tropical fruits. Classic Riesling that finishes long and with superb cut and focus. Made from roughly 50-year-old vines.
— Ian D’Agata
Drinking window: 2020 – 2040
Review date: Mar 2017

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