Riesling Grossi Laue 2010
Famille Hugel
Grossi Laüe signifies the finest vineyards in Alsace dialect and represents an equivalent to the German Grosses Gewächs or the Burgundian Grand Cru.
Terroir: Produced in a selection of the finest plots of the Hugel estate in the heart of the grand cru Schoenenbourg. This fantastic historical terroir has been almost exclusively devoted to Riesling for centuries.
Keuper, marl, dolomite and gypsum, rich in fertilising agents, overlaid with fine layers of quaternary siliceous gravel, Vosges sandstone and Muschelkalk, with at its eastern extremity outcrops of Lias marl limestones.
Vinification: The grapes are taken in small tubs to the presses, which are filled by gravity, without any pumping or other mechanical intervention. After pressing, the must is decanted for a few hours, then fermented in temperature-controlled barrels or vats (at 18 to 24°C). The wine is racked just once, before natural clarification during the course of the winter. The following spring, the wine is lightly filtered just before bottling, and the bottles are then aged extensively in our cellars until released for sale. The whole production of this wine is closed with DIAM the cork without the risk of cork taint.
From The Wine Advocate “Starting with the 2010 vintage, the Grossi Laüe range succeeds the Jubilee line, which was introduced to celebrate the family’s 350th anniversary in 1989, with the finest dry Hugel wines made from Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir.
Grossi Laüe (Grosse Lage in German) signifies the finest vineyards in Alsace dialect and represents an equivalent to the German Grosses Gewächs or the Burgundian Grand Cru. It is the first time since the Second World War that Hugel uses Alemannic terms like Grossi Laüe or Schoelhammer on the label. Etienne Hugel points out: “After Réserve Exceptionnelle in the 1930s, Réserve Personnelle in the 1960s and the 20 years of Jubilee, Schoelhammer and Grossi Laüe mark a veritable return to the timeless cultural values of our family, deeply anchored in our historic vineyard terroirs. We have finally left the denial of everything what’s Alemannic behind us. It’s time to speak Alsace dialect now.””
Additional Information
“The winter of 2010 was particularly harsh, with more than 30 days below zero, and temperatures dropped as far as -17°C. Budburst on 8 April was early, but flowering which began on 10 June took almost 3 weeks to finish due to cool temperatures. July was exceptionally hot and sunny, before cold, damp and rainy weather set in throughout August and into September. Ideal weather conditions returned on 11 September, with not a drop of rain for 6 weeks. Our harvest began on 27 September and ended on 26 October. Maturity reached record levels, the highest for 50 years, with good acidity, similar to 1996. Crop size was 30% below average, and even lower for Gewurztraminer. Superb wines with magnificent balance, purity and fruit. 2010 is a great classic vintage, with good ageing potential.” ?Etienne Hugel
Great classic Riesling which starts to show its promises but which will gain in complexity for 8 years or more. Its minerality and long complex aftertaste will make it the ideal partner to noble fish or seafood dishes.
Technical Details
- Appellation: Alsace
- Winemaker: Marc Hugel
- Sustainability: Organic Practices
- Soil: Keuper, marl, dolomite and gypsum
- Avg Vine Age: 30+ years
- Yield: 45 hl/ha
- Alcohol: 14.5%
- Ttl Acidity: 6.23 g/l
- Residual Sugar: 14.6 g/l
- Sizes Available: 750ml
- Pack Size: 6/750ml
- Varietals: 100% Riesling
Recent Press
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Score: 97 Points
JamesSuckling.com Author: James Suckling
Date: Friday, November 18, 2016"The purity of this wine is phenomenal now with sliced apple, melon, mineral and hints of chalk. It's full-bodied, dense and compacted with a super finish. There is almost a saltiness on the finish. Dried fruits too, such as lemon, lime and papaya. From the best parcel of the Schonenberg. Very long and incredible. Goes on for minutes. So amazing now but will age forever. I marvel in its complexity and completeness."Grade: Top 100 Wines of 2016 #39 -
Score: 92 Points
Wine Spectator Author: Alison Napjus
Date: Monday, February 22, 2016"A creamy and harmonious white that shows lovely integration of its vibrant acidity and subtle, smoky mineral character, offering flavors of yellow pear, beeswax, fresh forest and lemon meringue. The lasting finish, reveals a rich hint of almond. Drink now through 2025." -
Score: 97 Points
JamesSuckling.com Author: James Suckling
Date: Monday, February 22, 2016"The purity of this wine is phenomenal now with sliced apple, melon, mineral and hints of chalk. It's full-bodied, dense and compacted with a super finish. There is almost a saltiness on the finish. Dried fruits too, such as lemon, lime and papaya. From the best parcel of the Schonenberg. Very long and incredible. Goes on for minutes. So amazing now but will age forever. I marvel in its complexity and completeness." -
Score: 96 Points
The Wine Advocate Author: Stephan Reinhardt
Date: Monday, February 22, 2016"The 2010 Riesling Grossi Lae succeeds the Jubilee Rieslings produced between 1989 and 2009. Jubilee has always been a selection of the best Riesling plots within the Schoenenbourg, in which the Hugel family holds 5 hectares. Until 2005 (there was no 2006 produced), the Jubilee Riesling also included the Schoelhammer parcel which, starting with vintage 2007, is now exclusively cultivated for the Riesling Schoelhammer. The remaining six Riesling Hugel plots (adding up to 3 hectares) on the marl soils of the Grand Cru Schoenenbourg make up for the bright colored 2010 Riesling Grossi Lae, which will be released by the end of 2015. This wine has developed a lovely maturity over the years and starts very clear and intense, with nicely spicy and floral flavors on the nose. On the palate, this still developing Schoenenbourg reveals all the characters a grand cru from this exceptional appellation should have: depth, a noble richness, density, concentration, a complex and persistent minerality, a tight and age-worthy structure, and a very long and tension-filled finish. The fruit is expressed clearly and subtly here, and the finish is dry and stimulating. However, Marc Hugel stresses that "the Jubilee or Grossi Lae wines reach their peak after seven to 15 years," although he personally believes "it should be 40 years old -- but this is not a very commercial point of view. Whereas Marc served me the wine from the 375 ml bottle in June this year at the Domaine in Riquewihr, his brother Etienne poured me the 2010 from the Magnum earlier this year at ProWein in Dsseldorf (still under the Jubilee label), which was absolutely exceptional in its densely-woven and tension-filled complexity and mineral persistency. The score relates to the Magnum, the given tasting note describes my impressions from the 375 ml bottle I tasted in June. Note: The also, at that time unreleased 2010 described by my colleague David Schildknecht last year, was still designated as Jubilee, whereas in fact the wine goes into the market as Riesling Grossi Lae end of 2015." -
Vinous Author: Ian D'Agata
Date: Monday, February 22, 2016"Bright golden straw. Fresh, slightly musky aromas of ginger, lime and pink grapefruit. Then quite dry but fairly rich on the palate, with pure, bright flavors of ripe stone fruits, quince jam and custard cream. Finishes tactile and persistent: one can tell that some of these grapes were harvested later."Grade: 93+ Points
