Bottler: Domaine Zind Humbrecht, 4 Route de Colmar, 68230 Turckheim / France
In the glass
Colour
Bright golden yellow.
Nose
Quince, pumpkin and fennel, followed by yellow stone fruit, orange marmalade, cinnamon, gingerbread, beeswax, saffron, aniseed and pepper, with a delicate hint of botrytis.
Palate
Dense, deep and long; yellow stone fruit meets ginger, cardamom, curry, liquorice and bitter orange. Silky, almost oily texture, piquant finish, perfectly balanced between generous fruit, spice and invigorating freshness.
Character
Pure, precise and refined – a powerful, noble sweet Grand Cru with tremendous tension and decades of ageing potential.
Pairing
Lemon tart with mint, partridge breasts in lardo with apple and pepper sauce and sauerkraut, or game terrine with pear brunoise.
Notes
From very old parcels within the Grand Cru Hengst, one of which was acquired by Émile Zind in 1948; produced by this Demeter-certified, biodynamic estate. According to Olivier Humbrecht, the 2017 vintage ranks among the three finest since 1959 – with a yield of just 21 hl/ha and 62 g/l residual sugar, supported by fine acidity.
Tasting note
Colour & appearance
Golden yellow, dense and luminous in the glass – a wine that announces its richness even visually.
Nose
Intensity, depth and tension are immediately apparent. Initially quince, pumpkin and fennel, then increasingly yellow stone fruit and orange marmalade, accompanied by cinnamon, gingerbread, beeswax, saffron, aniseed and pepper. As it warms, a very delicate hint of botrytis emerges – yet overall the wine remains pure, precise and full of finesse.
Palate
Enormously dense, long and profound, yet perfectly balanced: generous fruit and spice on one hand, freshness and minerality on the other. Yellow stone fruit meets ginger, cardamom, curry, liquorice and bitter orange. The texture is silky, the consistency almost oily.
Finish
Piquant and long-lasting – a wine built for decades to come.
Terroir & origin
The Grand Cru Hengst in Wintzenheim is one of the domaine’s six grand cru vineyard sites, yielding limestone-driven finesse. The vines come from very old plots: Émile Zind acquired the first as early as 1948, while the second – possibly planted in 1920 – was added in 1978. Crucial is the old massale selection: younger clonal plots proved incapable of producing great wine here and were subsequently reassigned.
Grape variety & vinification
A single-varietal Gewürztraminer, vinified sweet with 62 g/l residual sugar and just 2.5 g acidity. Olivier Humbrecht – France’s first Master of Wine – runs this biodynamically farmed estate, which has been Demeter-certified since 2002. No wine leaves the cellar before one to two years of maturation; at least six months on the lees shape its texture.
Food recommendations
A wine for the cooler months: partridge breasts wrapped in lardo with apple and pepper sauce and sauerkraut, game terrine with pear brunoise, or – for a sweet finale – lemon tart with mint.
Special features
According to Olivier Humbrecht, the 2017 vintage ranks among the three finest since the estate was founded in 1959. Frost and hail reduced yields to 21 hl/ha – concentration born of the weather. Sweet but never heavy: freshness and minerality keep the sweetness in check. A Gewürztraminer of rare seriousness.
