Muscat Goldert Grand Cru 2017 1500ml

Vintage

The 2017 vintage will go down in the history of this wine estate. For Olivier Humbrecht, it is one of the three best vintages since the foundation of the wine estate in 1959. However, this time frost and hail limited the yield to less than 20 hl/ha on average. After an early budbreak, two cold spells with sub-zero temperatures on April 21 and 22 exposed even those areas that were more sheltered to frost. An unusually freezing easterly wind froze vines in vineyards like the Herrenweg de Turckheim, which never froze to death in the 60 years Olivier's father has been involved. A hailstorm in the Brand vineyard fortunately remained without major consequences. Midsummer was hot, August milder, and the harvest started on August 29 with Pinot Gris Roche Roulée, followed by terroirs like Rotenberg, Heimbourg, Goldert ... A little rain on September 2 accelerated the ripening. The Rieslings were harvested from 11 September and the harvest finished with Rangen, Hengst and Clos Jebsal on 26 September. Only in Clos Jebsal were there minor signs of botrytis.

Vineyard

The Grand Cru Goldert is situated on a limestone hill of the Grand Oolithe and forms a mixture of tiny remnants of oyster shells and marl from the Jura. The garden is situated, facing east, on a gentle slope. The Muscat d'Alsace matured uncharacteristically slowly in 2017, but retained a nice acidity that gives the wine structure. Goldert is one of the rare Grand Cru terroirs in Alsace where Muscat plays a historic role. The 2017 Muscat took a long time to finish its fermentation. As in some vintages before, it was not able to ferment all the sugar, but still seems dry.

Fermentation

The wine has 8.6 g/l residual sugar with 3.4 g acidity and 3.3 pH. The harvest quantity was unusually high at 49 hl/ha. It was matured in large wooden barrels with long fermentation over 15 months. Besides 90 % Muscat d'Alsace, there are 10 % Muscat Ottonel.

medium straw yellow

The 2017 Muscat Grand Cru Goldert is an impressively pure, clear and transparent wine, which seems almost floatingly light because of its aromas of rose petals, nutmeg and lychee, but above all because of its bright citrus aromas and the cool lime, which already seems mineral on the nose.

On the palate, the wine almost seems as if you are standing in a rose garden with falling leaves. It is a mood wine, intense, inviting and cuddly with a fine residual sweetness, but captured at every moment by a fine acid structure and a deep, vibrating minerality. The summer air lies over the rose garden with a pleasant breeze that swirls the nutmeg notes and makes room for the terroir. The limestone paves its way to the palate, bringing grip as well as light tannin. The Goldert has a fantastic length, is intense and yet almost floating until the end - a fantastic, absolutely fascinating Muscat and certainly a solitaire.