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42 hectares, six Grand Crus, one man who refined his biodynamic knowledge through the study of cow manure. Olivier Humbrecht was the first Frenchman to earn the Master of Wine title in 1989. Back in Alsace, he converted the family estate to biodynamics, brought horses back to Europe's steepest vineyards, and began naming his wines after what truly matters: the rock beneath the vines.
Domaine Zind-Humbrecht – eleven generations since 1620, and a portfolio that maps Alsace in all its geological diversity. From gravel to limestone, granite to volcanic rock. We stock 144 of their wines – quite possibly the largest Zind-Humbrecht selection in Europe. Today we present seven of them.
From Alluvial Plains to Volcano
No other estate in Alsace makes terroir quite so literally tangible as Zind-Humbrecht. The 'Roche' range – Roche Calcaire, Roche Volcanique, Roche Granitique – reads like a geological travel guide. Each wine tastes of its soil, not its élevage. At least six months on the lees, one to two years' maturation in the cellar, yields of 30-40 hectolitres per hectare. The wines must wait before they're allowed to speak.
Riesling Turckheim 2024
Riesling · Alsace · ca. 21 €
The entry point into the Zind-Humbrecht universe. Flatland sites around Turckheim, gravelly alluvial soils of the Fecht. Bone-dry Riesling for 21 euros, biodynamic, from a Master of Wine. Intense on the nose, elegant on the palate, with a minerality that reveals: here begins a journey that leads all the way to volcanic rock.
Riesling Roche Calcaire 2022
Riesling · Alsace · ca. 31 €
'Roche Calcaire' means limestone – and that's precisely what you taste. Young vines from the Grand Cru sites Goldert and Hengst near Gueberschwihr, not yet old enough for Grand Cru status. 2022 was hot, yet this Riesling remains dry, precise – chalk, lemon zest, wet stone. The limestone gives the wine tension and length where other vintages show opulence.
Olivier Humbrecht MW – first French Master of Wine, winemaker in the eleventh generation
Monopoles & Grand Crus
Zind-Humbrecht owns three monopole sites – Clos Windsbuhl, Clos Häuserer, Clos Jebsal – and farms six Grand Crus across 11.5 hectares. Since 2019, Pierre Émile Humbrecht has been working as the eleventh generation. His father Léonard was the first winemaker in France to install cooling systems in wooden barrels in 1981. The spirit of innovation runs in the family.
Crémant d'Alsace Clos Windsbuhl 2023
Chardonnay · Alsace · ca. 35 €
A Crémant from a Grand Cru site? Nobody else does this. 100% Chardonnay from the legendary Clos Windsbuhl, Brut Nature – zero dosage. Limestone soil, single vineyard, biodynamic. The result is a sparkling wine that can compete with many a Champagne. For 35 euros. If you don't seize this, you've missed the point.
Pinot Gris Clos Windsbuhl 2022
Pinot Gris · Alsace · ca. 61 €
54-year-old vines on limestone. The Clos Windsbuhl is a historic monopole that belongs solely to Zind-Humbrecht. Here, Pinot Gris becomes an object of meditation: Neither fat nor sweet, but taut, smoky, almost saline – a Pinot Gris that deserves the word 'mineral'. The texture comes from months of lees contact, the tension from the limestone.
Grand Cru Rangen de Thann – Alsace's steepest vineyard
The Red Outlier
Zind-Humbrecht and red wine? Yes – from precisely one parcel. 0.32 hectares of Heimbourg, iron-rich Oligocene limestone, Pinot Noir. An estate with 42 hectares of white wine indulges in this one red. That alone says everything about the site.
Pinot Noir Heimbourg 2022
Pinot Noir · Alsace · ca. 46 €
Wild raspberries, blackcurrant, black cherries – then peonies and wet limestone. Burgundian elegance from Alsace: 0.32 hectares proving that Pinot Noir needs limestone, not prestige. On the palate, silky tannins, cool fruit, a finish that tastes of iron and earth. The Heimbourg soil contains so much iron you can recognise it in the wine.
The Pinnacle: Grand Cru Brand & Rangen de Thann
Two Grand Crus, two rock types, two philosophies. The Brand near Turckheim: granite, warm, opulent. The Rangen de Thann: volcanic rock, 68-degree gradient, Alsace's steepest vineyard. Émile Zind was already supplying his wines to the Hôtel de Paris in Monte Carlo in 1947. Quality as a calling card – that hasn't changed.
Riesling Brand Grand Cru 2022
Riesling · Grand Cru · ca. 80 €
Granite. South-facing. Biotite rock that glitters in the sun. The Brand is Zind-Humbrecht's showpiece for Riesling – tradition meets modern biodynamic viticulture. Smoke, ripe mirabelle, graphite – opulent on the nose, yet taut on the palate. You taste granite here like salt in bread. Ten years' ageing potential, at least.
Gewürztraminer Rangen de Thann Clos-Saint-Urbain Grand Cru 2020
Gewürztraminer · Grand Cru · ca. 95 €
68-degree gradient. Volcanic rock. 5.5 hectares above the town of Thann, where the vines grow towards heaven. The Rangen is Alsace's steepest vineyard site, and this Gewürztraminer is its most monumental testament. Dry, smoky, with a spice that comes not from the grape variety but from the volcano. A wine that converts Gewürztraminer sceptics. Olivier Humbrecht describes biodynamics as 'therapy for the vines to forget stress' – at the Rangen, you understand what he means.
From Pinot Blanc for 18 euros to the Sélection de Grains Nobles from Clos Jebsal. Vintages going back to 2001. If you want to understand Alsace, start here.
All wines from Zind-Humbrecht →
Warm regards
David
Living Wines
P.S.: Seven wines, seven soils – and one glass that makes the difference audible. The Zalto Universal is thin enough to distinguish granite from volcanic rock. Mouth-blown, dishwasher-safe, 94 euros for two.
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