Famille
Hugel: The 2015 Riesling Séléctions de Grains Nobles S and 2014 Riesling Grossi
Laüe

BY ANNE KREBIEHL MW |&nbsp;JULY 24, 2023Jean-Frédéric Hugel paid a brief visit to
London to launch a brace of late-release Rieslings. One from the 2014 vintage,
from their top site Grand Cru Schoenenbourg. While the 2015 has already been
released, this is the first vintage in which Hugel finally uses the grand cru
designation rather than their Alsatian dialect term Grossi Laüe. Hugel
noted that “it is more and more this type of vintage that produces the most
age-worthy wines,” referring to the cooler 2014. “We thought 2014 would be a
wine that would need 10-15 years, but it is opening very nicely now.” It was
aged for eight years, and half of the wine went through malolactic
fermentation. It is a blend of four parcels: Stumpff, Hoppler Krumm and
Schoenenbourg Derrière. Hugel reminded me that 2014 was the year when the
arrival of an invasive alien insect, Drosophila suzukii, a Japanese
spotted-wing fruit fly, made headlines. The insect homes in on reddish colors
and is a pest not just for grapes but for fruit in general. It attacks healthy
fruit by laying its eggs under the skin, destroying it in the process.
“Gewurztraminer was a challenge; Pinot Noir was a disaster,” Hugel said, “while
the white-skinned varieties were not affected.” He noted they benefitted from a
cool, late harvest that brought “concentration from late picking with high
ripeness and acid.” As vintages are often generalized, 2014 thus has a poorer
reputation, but those who like cooler-vintage Rieslings will find much to
appreciate here, especially the fine, bright acidity that marks these wines out
of the ordinary.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1689954716427-CF_July242023_2.jpg">Hugel said less about the 2015 Riesling
Séléctions de Grains Nobles S. He was succinct: “This is a monster,” he said
about this bold, sweet wine. He compared this 2015 SGN to similarly long-lived
wines that the estate was able to harvest in the warm vintages of 2009 and
1976. Hugel noted the quality of the botrytis was very clean: “No fuzzy mould,
just an even spread of high-quality botrytis, just enough to help with
concentration and not leave trace on the final product. This is amongst the
finest botrytis of the decade from a place called Engelskritt.” Indeed, the
wine tastes far more of Riesling than of botrytis but has the concentration
only this kind of benign kind of fungal corruption can bring. 

Both are late but current releases.

Hugel switched to using the conventional
Grand Cru nomenclature in 2015, making the 2014 Riesling from Schoenenbourg
vineyards the last time he called it Grossi Laüe. An immediate lift of
chamomile appears on the nose, fused with aromatic hay flowers and fragrant,
ripe, yellow apple and the intense lift of dried lemon. All points to a beautiful
evolution from this cooler year. The palate has an immense smoothness, an
emollient texture that is absolutely aligned with a central, essential streak
of 2014 acidity. The palate is slender, precise, taut and yet has Alsace
richness. Beautifully straight and linear, very elegant, as befits this
vintage. Very streamlined, aromatic and poised. 95/Drink 2023-2050.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1689954628001-CF_July242023.jpg">The 2015 Riesling Séléctions de Grains
Nobles S comes from the Engelskritt parcel in Grand Cru Schoenenbourg, on
its gypsum, marl and limestone soils. The nose is immediately ethereal,
clearing sinuses with its immense concentration of dried lemon peel and pure
lemon oil, edged with freshly crushed wild thyme. More air and temperature
allow hints of honey to come forth alongside lemon-edged, golden apple peel.
The palate is luscious, with immense clarity and luminous acidity. It presents Mirabelle
compote, the ripest fruit cut with racy citrus. There are edges of evolution:
the merest hint of truffle and a lovely, stony limestone depth. This is a
citrus-driven wine with herbal and citrus lift. The purity of the botrytis is
astonishing; the finish is exquisitely long and absolutely balanced. Intense
and bold, yet elegant. The 195g/L residual sweetness is countered by 8 g/L of
acidity. 97/Drink 2023-2070. © 2023, Vinous. No portion of this article may be copied, shared or re-distributed without prior consent from Vinous. Doing so is not only a violation of our copyright, but also threatens the survival of independent wine criticism.

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