Riesling Clos Windsbuhl 2015 3000ml Doppel-Magnum

Wine Description for Riesling Clos Windsbuhl 2015 3000ml Double Magnum from Domaine Zind-Humbrecht

Colour & Appearance

Dense, slightly muted golden yellow – a colour that already hints at depth and maturity, awakening curiosity.

Nose

This wine demands the decanter – and it demands patience. Initially closed and introverted, it opens with oxygen into a monument of almonds, light nuts, wine yeast and delicately smoky notes with pale tobacco. Over time, pomelo, pink grapefruit and small red apples join in. What dominates from the outset: an overwhelming minerality that recalls freshly broken limestone.

Palate

Striking, almost dry and of compelling precision. The attack is immediately demanding – crystalline salinity and a vibrant spice set the salivary glands working at once. Nutty, yeasty and citrus notes alternate, the fruit remaining discreet and elegant in the background. The structure is almost reminiscent of a great white Burgundy – dense, complex, with a „grainy“ mineral framework, thanks to the magnesium-rich limestone soil.

Finish

Long, saline and remarkably invigorating. The finish resonates like a distant gong – precise, cool and of inexhaustible length. A wine that doesn’t let go.

Terroir & Origin

The Clos Windsbuhl sits high in Alsace, at the forest’s edge, on ancient sedimentary limestone from the Secondary period. The cool, late-ripening microclimate decisively shapes its character – in 2015, this vineyard was harvested a full four weeks after the official harvest date in Turckheim. The result is a Riesling of extraordinary depth and maturity, yet one that refuses all opulence.

Grape Variety & Vinification

Pure Riesling, aged under the influence of the magnesium-rich limestone soil, which gives the wine its characteristic grainy texture and a sharp, vibrant acidity. This acidity can halt fermentation prematurely – explaining the slight residual sweetness, which is, however, completely masked by the minerality. At 12.5% vol., the wine is remarkably well-balanced. The double magnum (3000 ml) guarantees ideal ageing over decades.

Food Pairing Suggestions

A wine of this complexity demands dishes with depth and character: risotto with white truffle, turbot in fennel crust with Riesling shallot sauce and caviar or young pheasant on savoy cabbage with smoked bacon and Riesling sauce.

Special Characteristics

This wine is still in deep sleep. Open it today and you’ll get a fascinating glimpse of a great wine in the making – forget about it and return in 10 to 15 years, and you’ll be rewarded with an explosion of complexity. The double magnum is the ideal format for those who understand patience as a virtue.