2007 Riesling Jubilee

Quite rich fruit. Racy but not as complex as many. Competent but unexciting. (JR)

Hugel’s 2007 Riesling Jubilee is even more intensely bright and citric than its 2005 counterpart, although their level of acidity is the same, and indeed – Mark Hugel points out – vintage-to-vintage regularity in gross chemical make-up is a characteristic for the estate’s top Schoenenbourg Riesling. Tangerine zest, thyme, pepper cress, and fusil and marine aromas prepare the way for a satiny palate saturated with illusive mineral as well as pungently herbal and citric flavors. The sense of palpable extract here is formidable, which – along with its pronounced acidity and minerality – makes for slight austerity, but the wine displays such penetration and grip as well as invigoration that it will prove fascinating in some contexts already, and has all the makings of yet another 20 or more year classic to set beside its many illustrious predecessors. Until the late 1980s, this bottling from the Schoenenbourg was known as “Reserve Personnelle.” Jean “Johnny” Hugel – a man without whom the reputation and evolution of Alsace wine since the end of the Second World War is unimaginable – died last summer. His wit will be irreplaceable, but his spirit and insights will continue to guide and inspire not only his family’s 371 year old firm, but – with luck, at least – the future development of Alsace wine as a whole. Not surprisingly, the Hugels were thrilled with their results in 2007, but as Marc Hugel points out “twenty years or more ago, a rot- and mildew-prone summer like 2007’s would have spelled disaster.” As for what would have become of 2006 “in the old days” even with the best will in the world, the Hugels preferred not to dwell on that. “I have to be honest,” relates Etienne Hugel, “in 2006, when I saw the grapes that came in toward the end from the estate – not to mention the purchased grapes – I said, ‘Mark, we aren’t going to be able to sell that!’. We scarified the fruit from less well-drained soils and picked those last. And we ended up selling off one third of our grapes.” That said, from a widely-distributed, combined estate-negociant like Hugel, a vintage such as 2006 with its extensive declassification offers a wide range of consumers the potential to drink wine from top estate sites at a lower price. And as it is, Hugel – like their best-known friendly competitor in the U.S. market, Trimbach – has hardly been resting on their laurels or neglecting the quality of their basic (or, as they prefer “classic”) bottlings: on the contrary, these are becoming steadily better and more consistent. Importer: Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700

All grapes from the Schoenenbourg Grand Cru vineyard. Slightly nutty and open on the nose. But no great concentration. A bit tight but without real expression. A dumb wine. Maybe this will open out eventually? (JR)