Zind-Humbrecht | Alsace | Riesling Rangen de Thann Clos-Saint-Urbain Grand Cru | 2021 | 1500ml | bio

Description

Product description for Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Rangen de Thann Clos-Saint-Urbain Grand Cru 2021 (bio)

Wine Info

Olivier Humbrecht:

The Grand Cru du Rangen is located in the southernmost part of the Alsace Wine Route, at a higher altitude than most other Grands Crus in Alsace: 350 to 480 m. Nestled in a narrow, cold valley, near the highest peaks of the Vosges Mountains, the climate is colder, so the Rangen always budbreaks late in the spring. The steep, south-facing slope (90%) compensates for the cold climate of the Thann Valley and gives the grapes great ripeness at the end of the season. The strength of Rangen wines, however, lies in the unique volcanic soil, composed of compacted ash and rich in minerals. This special soil produces wines with exceptional minerality and a high proportion of smoky components.

Vineyard Info

In 2021, the grapes ripened quite slowly. They reached perfect ripeness, but also retained robust acidity and developed intense volcanic aromas. The wine fermented very slowly and was aged dry.

Color

Intense, bright golden yellow.

Nose

This monument of a wine initially displays smoky notes, aromas of matchsticks, and crushed stones. It demands the decanter to reveal itself, then aromas of white peach, mango, rosemary, and delicately tart grapefruit peel emerge. It grabs you right from the nose and doesn’t let go.

Palate

Powerful and full of inspiring freshness, the 2021 Riesling Clos Saint Urbain Rangen de Thann floods the palate. Its fruit is accompanied by salty intensity and vibrant acidity, as well as fine tannins—all wonderfully framed by exuberant minerality. It appears floating, almost silky, and the alcohol content is pleasantly moderate at 12.5% ABV. You could spend days enjoying it, which is a good thing, because opening it up longer will only make it better. A Riesling that is powerful, complex, and simply beautiful, but also a wine that is not yet meant to be enjoyed straight away, even though it is already so stimulating and inspiring. It is best to cellar it first. In a few years you will get the feeling that fireworks are going off when you drink it. You can practically sink into this magical wine, full of intensity and expression, and at the same time so full of elegance! If you want to enjoy it now, you should definitely decant it over several hours and serve it in a sufficiently large glass. Opening it up for a few days will allow it to gain in expression.

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Keywords: Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Rangen de Thann Clos-Saint-Urbain Grand Cru 2021 bio Alsace France

Wine Advocate

Score: 89+

Zind-Humbrecht’s 2021 Riesling Clos Saint-Urbain Rangen de Thann and I will probably never become a love story. I’ve had this wine four times in the past 12 months. The third time was during the Rangen vertical, and even then it didn’t reach the usual level, which is why I reviewed it again for publication. As the very last wine of the vertical, the 2021 opened with an oxidized and just-ripe apple aroma on the hardly precise and not really stimulating bouquet. Dense, straight and rather rustic on the palate, this was a medium to full-bodied yet on the finish rather drying and rustic Riesling that failed to entertain but was better than the two samples earlier last year. The finish was as if this bottle was corked, but this would be the third out of three bottles… I scored it 86 with a question mark but gave it a last chance—and the Rangen took it!
Tasted again in March this year (2024), the straw-yellow colored 2021 Rangen combines intense, yellow-fleshed fruit with coolish and spicy phenolic notes but also yellow paprika aromas, representing “a challenging year” with low yields (down 50%) but lots of rainfall in spring and the first half of summer and significant mildew problems. However, “the drier August/September months desiccated the grapes affected by mildew, so the remaining grapes were healthy and nice,” reported Olivier Humbrecht. On the palate, the 2021 is lean but elegant, bone dry but with concentrated fruit and ripe acidity. The wine is dense yet less powerful and complex than in the years before but should gain further finesse and layers with bottle age. Olivier sees 2021 as “a combination of 2019, 2017 and 2010. Definitely a vintage worth cellaring but, unfortunately, in very small volume.”
Stephan Reinhardt

Vinous

Score: 96

The 2021 Riesling Rangen de Thann Clos Saint Urbain Grand Cru is from the famously steep and dark volcanic rock of Rangen with some sandstone inclusions. The soil is rich in potassium which buffers the pH of the wine, making the acid less strident yet lending much power to the wines. The oldest plots of Riesling are up to 60 years old; the younger vines are 45 years old. The color is golden. Underneath the reduction is a spicy smokiness, with greengage and white pepper. There is something utterly fluid, intense, compact and concentrated that seems to have a total verticality, driving into the depth of the rock. The wine has luminous citric yet balanced freshness and is clear as a bell. Wait for this because it will be sensational. The finish is bone-dry and salty. (Bone-dry)
— Anne Krebiehl MW
Drinking window: 2027 – 2080
Review date: Apr 2023

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