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Tectonic faults and underwater volcanoes, 70 million years at work. They tore open the Upper Rhine Graben, separated the Vosges from the Black Forest, lowered the Rhine by several kilometres. Alsace, on the western side of the graben, was for millennia a conflict line and meeting zone where – like the tectonics themselves – currents of Latin and Germanic culture intertwined and discharged into one another.
The Rangen (as in hochrangen) has survived it all. First mentioned and praised in the 12th century, its wines rank among the most extraordinary in France. The signature of this vineyard site is strong and unusual. With their smoky flint and notes of dark earth, they tear you unprepared from the everyday.
The eminent Rangenkopf rises 600 metres above the Thur river at the southern end of the Alsace appellation. From the plateau, one enjoys a spectacular view of the Vosges, the Black Forest and Switzerland in the distance. In the middle of the Rangenkopf, at approximately 300 metres elevation, lies the Grand Cru Rangen de Thann. The only truly volcanic terroir in Alsace. 50 centimetres of soil on bare, cracked rock. Poor in clay and organic matter; rich in tuff, andesites and volcanic sediment. As a result, the wines of Rangen display by far the highest mineral content of all surrounding vineyards. They also differ markedly in sensory terms: considerable weight and concentration, smokiness, salt and vibration.
Original, assertive wines.
Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Rangen de Thann GC 2015: Already on the nose unmistakably Rangen: smoky, smoky minerality. Streams of ground black volcanic rock, threaded through with silken apricot threads. On the palate everything: sweetness, acidity, fruit, salt and bitterness. Not bone-dry, as we have become accustomed to from great German Rieslings in the meantime. Instead with a spark of hedonism more. Alsace, after all.
Almost too much is this wine for one. Not good sales material, because one automatically pauses, slows down, lingers. At the end of its journey along the palate, the individual components merge into a beautiful, pulsating core fusion with a densely packed centre and vibrating edges. Endless finish. An aftertaste that one fears to desecrate with another sip – let alone, oh sacrilege, with food. A wine that shook me awake and reminded me why wine determines my life, why I decided to make wine the guide of my life. How can it be? How can human hands create from fermented grape juice such a masterpiece of flowing aesthetics?
Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Rangen de Thann GC 2011: Composed, distinctly more baroque, fuller, also somewhat sweeter. Even more classic Alsace. This one calls for food: give me a terrine, a piece of cheese. Grill me a pork chop with spicy salsa. At least an oyster. Still very young. Forest honey, thyme, tamari on the palate. The smokiness of the Rangen now well known and beloved to us, and lemon parfait on the nose. Sustained and very, very beautiful, this one too.
Both an enrichment and great wines that one must taste. The 2015 belongs among the ten most beautiful wines of my life.