Trimbach, 'Clos Sainte Hune' Riesling, Alsace, France, 1996

Overview of the Wine
The Trimbach’s have a purist vision. For three centuries and across 13 generations, the family has produced wines that are structured, longlived, fruity, elegant and balanced: the celebrated Trimbach style. The family personally looks after each operation, from planting to harvests and from vinification to bottling. The viticultural origin of the Trimbach family dates back to 1626, when Jean Trimbach, was recognized as a citizen of Riquewihr. From then on, the Trimbach’s were renowned for their wine-growing. Maison Trimbach’s vineyards are all situated around Ribeauville (Ribeauville, Hunawihr, Bergheim, Rorschwihr, Riquewihr and Mittlewihr). They benefit from the unique Alsatian microclimate, thanks to the Vosges Mountains protection, which preserves the plain from the rain. The vineyards were planted on the Ribeauville’s fault line that fractured 50 million years ago between the Vosges Mountain range and the Black Forest offering a mosaic of terroirs including the complex calcareous limestone and bio-degraded seashell fossils called “Muschelkalk”. Trimbach Réserves are the result of a rigorous selection from mostly old vineyards in Ribeauvillé and the surrounding villages, producing more complex wines with longer ageing potential.

In the 1960’s, the Trimbach family decided that it was time for a second great dry Riesling, thus Cuvée Frédéric Émile, the signature wine of the Trimbach family was created.

The plot of the Frédéric Émile straddles the Grands Crus Osterberg and Geisberg in Ribeauvillé, overlooking the winery. The plot has marl-calcaro-sandstone soils, south-southeast exposure, steep slope, and old vines 55+ years old.

Grape / Blend
Riesling

Origin
Alsace, France

Winemaker's Tasting Notes
If there is one Riesling in the world that every wine lover dreams of tasting and savoring, it is Clos Sainte Hune.

High class dry wine, racy, refined, elegant, with very ripe fruit and a very pronounced minerality give it its unique character. It has a signature of its own that is transcendent in great vintages. It is a wine that inspires dreams with its harmony and its exceptional capacity for aging.

98 Points - John Gilman
At age ten the ’96 Clos Ste. Hune is just beginning to emerge from hibernation and is beginning to really show just how profound it will ultimately prove to be. The bouquet is deep and magical (and initially quite open, though a bit of the exuberance gets reigned in with extended aeration), soaring from the glass in an exotic mélange of black currant, sweet grapefruit, lime zest, loads of pulverized limestone, candied iris, incipient notes of polenta, a bit of fresh nutmeg and a topnote of currant leaf. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, surprisingly open on the attack, deep and laser-like, with a rock solid core of fruit, and great zip and rapier-like grip on the endless backend. The ’96 is just a monumental vintage of Clos Ste. Hune, that looks to be a bit more tightly-knit and elegant than the great 1990, while at the same time being equally powerful and profound. 98+

96 Points - Wine Spectator
A great Riesling, balancing intense, pure flavors of apple, quince, peach and apricot with a filigreed steel structure and a smoky, stony element from the site. Intense and ethereal at the same time, it melts in the mouth, leaving the essence of its flavors on the long finish. *Cellar Selection* (BS)

94 Points - Vinous
Full yellow-gold, deep for its age. Nose began with very ripe suggestions of honeycomb, toffee, maple syrup--even a suggestion of nut skin. Would inexperienced tasters have written this off as prematurely oxidized without giving it a chance to blossom with air? Ten minutes in the glass brought much more vibrant aromas of peach, Christmas spices and orange oil, and an impression of powerful acidity (ten grams per liter, if I recall correctly from my first tasting of this wine from bottle at Trimbach). Densely packed and brisk in the mouth, with lovely sweetness of stone fruit flavors complicated by minerals and a chewy saline quality. This dry, bracing wine began with a slight sour edge but the strong acidity harmonized with air. In the recorked bottle 72 hours later, the wine hummed with citrus and stone fruit flavors and showed no oxidative notes. (ST) 94+

93 Points - Wine Advocate
The world-renowned Riesling Clos Ste. Hune is produced from 40 year old vines in a 1.38 hectare parcel (3.4 acres) located within the Rosacker grand cru. Some of the finest Rieslings I have ever tasted have hailed from this tiny plot. Crisp, youthful aromas of lemons are found in the medium-bodied, dense, and highly-focused 1996 Riesling Clos Ste. Hune. On the palate it offers extraordinarily powerful layers of lime-drenched minerals, a vibrant satiny-texture, and huge richness. This unbelievably long wine is massively structured, concentrated, and backward. It will require patience. (PR)

Product size: 750ml