1987 Domaine Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Rangen Clos St. Urbain Grand Cru

The luminous golden colored 1987 Riesling Clos Saint-Urbain Rangen de Thann is another lean but pure and fresh expression of this steep but wind-exposed terroir that met a very late and difficult (rainy) vintage where the flowering was not earlier than mid-July and the crop remained small. Harvest was in mid-November, and the grapes were relatively healthy. The 1987 Clos Saint-Urbain shows a very elegant and refined apricot aroma with a hint of honey and dried fruits that intermingle with finely saline and stony notes. It is generously textured and round on the palate, with a little residual sweetness that gives mouthfeel to an otherwise rather lean, very fresh but elegant Riesling that doesn't deliver all the secrets of the Clos but certainly the high acidity of the vintage. Tasted as part of the large Rangen vertical in Wachenheim, Pfalz, in November 2023.