Gewurztraminer Vendange Tardive 2010
Famille Hugel
Vendange Tardive or late harvest wines are the sweet jewels of the Alsace region and in particular, the Hugel family. It was Jean “Johnny” Hugel that first used the term following the 1976 vintage and who personally drafted the guidelines to producing vendange tardive (late harvest) that would become law in 1984. The law is strict and details several variables that must be considered including sugar and alcohol levels, vintage declaration, and vinification techniques.
The Hugel Gewürztraminer Vendange Tardive is sourced from the family owned parcel
of the Grand Cru Sporen vineyard on the slopes just outside of Riquewihr. Soils here are primarily clay and chalk.
Prior to harvest the intention of a vendange tardive is declared to the INAO. The grapes are allowed to sit on the vine until maximum sugar and alcohol levels are achieved. They are then hand harvested and brought to the winery for sorting and vinification. There are no pumps used at any point in the vinification process. The must is cold fermented and
then transferred to neutral vessels to undergo aging.
Hugel Vendange Tardive is only made in the very best of vintages. Produced from 40 year-old vines in exceptional vintages, this rare wine has been a specialty of the Hugel family for generations. Hugel’s “VT” wines are produced from grapes over-ripened on the vine and picked much later than normal. “Noble rot,” or botrytis, gives these wines
tremendous ageing potential and they’re frequently placed among the finest white wines in France.
Additional Information
The aromas and flavors are very refined, with a very long finish. On the nose, the wine is an explosion, blending multiple floral aromas: rose, acacia, jasmine, ripe and candied fruit, passion fruit, mango, lychee, spices, cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg, together with honey, currants, and a hint of over-ripeness. The whole is harmonious, refined and elegant. On the palate, it is velvety, suave, perfectly mellow, soft and silky. The wine can be enjoyed immediately or after 10 years of bottle age. It can be enjoyed with cakes, tarts, apple, pear, apricot, with foie gras, terrine or sautéed, and especially on its own.
Technical Details
- Appellation: Alsace
- Winemaker: Marc Hugel
- Sustainability: Organic Practices
- Soil: Lias clay-marl
- Avg Vine Age: 35 years
- Yield: 28 hl/ha
- Alcohol: 12.1%
- Ttl Acidity: 4.73 g/l
- Residual Sugar: 98 g/l
- Sizes Available: 750ml, 375ml
- Pack Size: 12/750ml
- Varietals: 100% Gewurztraminer
Recent Press
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Score: 92 Points
Wine Spectator Author: Alison Napjus
Date: Monday, December 31, 2018"A lush and creamy vendange tardive, this is closer to off-dry than full-on sweet, as the vivid backbone of acidity keeps this fresh and mouthwatering throughout, enlivening the range of baked melon, dried apricot, spun honey and sliced almond flavors. Citrus, smoke and spice notes echo on the finish. Drink now through 2025. 350 cases made." -
Score: 95 Points
JamesSuckling.com Author: James Suckling
Date: Wednesday, May 30, 2018"Maybe you hate the idea of sweet gewurztraminer, but this is still a wine that deserves your attention. This is all thanks to its great balance and the truly exceptional acidity from this generally low-acid grape variety. A rather delicate tropical-fruit character for the grape, too. A masterpiece of elegance! Drink or hold." -
Score: 96 Points
Vinous Author: Ian D'Agata
Date: Monday, April 30, 2018"Vivid straw-gold. Captivating aromas and flavors of orange marmalade, violet tisane, papaya, mango and guava nectar. Lovely rich, deep, smooth late-harvest Gewürz (110 g/L residual sugar and 4 g/L total acidity). Finishes extremely long and multilayered. This has the explosive aromas and flavors of a memorable, truly great Gewürztraminer in the making; I especially like its refinement, no doubt due to the high but harmonious acidity of the 2010 vintage. 8,000 bottles made." -
Score: 95 Points
The Wine Advocate Author: Stephan Reinhardt
Date: Friday, June 30, 2017"The 2010 Gewurztraminer Vendange Tardive is based on much more botrytis grapes than the 2009 and displays a clear and intense lemon flavor on the nose. "This was a marvelous botrytis," says Marc Hugel, who is in deeply in love with the 2010, for good reasons! The wine is terribly rich, precise and elegant, super concentrated, complex and straight, developing a great finesse and length. A gorgeous wine harvested with 18.3% potential alcohol and bottled with 12.1% alcohol, plus 105 grams of residual sugar."
