2017 Riesling, Clos Ste Hune, Trimbach, Alsace

Vivid straw-green with gold highlights. Highly aromatic on the nose, revealing hints of pear, lime, white pepper, candied ginger, quince and even raspberry. Enters sweet, then turns more austere and piercing. The penetrating, long, very suave finish offers complex, concentrated flavours similar to the aromas. That rare note of raspberry repeats in the mouth. A readier-to-drink CSH than usual, but it will age well.

The Clos has been organically farmed since eight years ago, and while I am very careful about making blanket statements on this subject, I think that the wines are now even better than they were before. Whether it’s the organic farming or not, I don’t know, but the possible connection is intriguing, to say the least.

Drink 2025 - 2035

13.5% stated alcohol. Natural cork.

Trimbach's iconic 2017 Clos Ste Hune Riesling is from an exceptional 1.67-hectare plot on the Grand Cru Rosacker in Hunawihr that has belonged to the family for over two hundred years. The vines cultivated on this south/southeast-facing cru on Muschelkalk limestone and yellow limestone average over 50 years of age. The 2017 opens with a clear, intense, elegant nose of fully ripe and even dried white fruits intermingled with fine terroir aromas of weathered limestones and hints of iodine and grapefruit.

Elegant and fresh on the palate, this is a highly complex, saline, juicy, but alkaline, structured Saint Hune with aromatic lemon and grapefruit aromas intermingled with ripe and fine tannins and a characteristic salinity that lingers. The concentration and complexity of this superb dry Riesling are uplifted on the finish, which is spectacularly long, indicating a still youthful wine that will benefit from further bottle ageing and can be aged for decades.

Drink 2027 - 2055