2015 Domaine Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Brand Grand Cru

Granite (pink). RS 6 g/l, TA 6.2 g/l, biodynamic. Ripe, smoky and spiced. Complex and just slightly reductive in that smoky character. Invitingly so. Beautifully integrated ripe fruit and spice, rich, smoky and very long. Mouth-watering length. (JH)

From granite soils, Humbrecht's 2015 Riesling Brand is terribly pure, fine and highly precise, delivering crushed stones and lemon perfume, as if it were another Sommerberg. Exciting! On the palate, this is a lush yet pure, intense and ripe, yet mineral and piquant Riesling; it has great elegance, noble intensity and great terroir expression. What a stimulating richness but also purity here, a beautifully fine tannin grip (as if it was Pinot Noir), and a long and persistent finish. This is a must buy of the vintage. Olivier compares the 2015 to 1983, which was also a very warm year and delivered elegant wines. This is pure, rich, lean, piquant and mineral, very stony, lush and fruity. Most of all, it is full of energy and fascination! A must buy!

This is a very ripe and concentrated wine with caramelized pineapple, smoke and spice. A fireworks display of minerals on the palate that doesn't want to stop, but the texture is also stunning and that follows through into the super-long sea-salt finish. Great now, but has 20-30 years of aging potential. Made from biodynamic grapes. Ecocert certified. Jun 2017, www.jamessuckling.com