Zind Humbrecht Riesling Roche Roulée – 2021

Bottling date: 1/2023; Alcohol: 12.85° alc; Residual sweetness: 2.4 g/l; Total Acidity 4.6 g/l H2SO4 (7.0 g/l Tartaric acid), pH: 3.1; Yields: 22 hl/ha; Optimum drinking period: 2026-2036; Average age of the vines: 55 years; Terroir: gravely/silt on valley floor; Indice 1/EU Dry wine.

“This wine originates from the gravelly and silt soils on the alluvial valley floor of Turckheim. This vineyard, despite being flat, enjoys intense sunshine, especially in the evenings as it gets the shadow from the Vosges mountains much later than most hillsides facing south or east. The soil is also well drained and very dry. Yields are naturally low so this wine is often quite intense and aromatic with good ripeness. The 2021 fermented over a year before being dry as the acidity is particularly high in this vintage, giving this wine an almost limestone influenced mouthfeel.

1/2023: Pale yellow colour. Well focused and tight nose, showing a much more mineral/terroir driven style of wine than usual for this terroir: citrus, wet stones, morning dew… Sharp but elegant palate. This wine is today showing extremely well in a lacy and precise texture. There is no sign of extra roundness on the mouth, characteristic found on all wines of 2021! Dry and crisp finish with a nice tension and salivating acidity, a normal result for very small yields.” Olivier Humbrecht

“Stunning citrus fruit, generous body and excellent concentration with a vibrant acidity makes this a very expressive and appealing dry riesling, that does all the things people expect from Sancerre which it doesn’t always deliver. Long invigorating finish. From biodynamically grown grapes.” 94pts Stuart Pigott for James Suckling