Trimbach Riesling

€22.99

The Trimbachs are obsessed by Riesling. Almost half their production is Riesling (against a regional average of 22%) and they produce the finest dry Riesling in the world, Clos Ste Hune (check out our 66 tasting notes on this long-lived marvel of a wine). But even the Trimbachs were amazed by the quality of their 2015 Rieslings, Jean T calling the vintage unparalleled. It was as hot and dry as the famous heatwave vintage of 2003 but the grapes somehow hung on to record levels of acidity for such a warm year to notch up truly exceptional levels of both sugar and acid. They lost about 30% of the crop, apparently, so their 2015 Rieslings are extra-concentrated.

The quality of this wine, their ‘basic’ Riesling, is all the more remarkable when one thinks that it is based on fruit bought in from their long-term suppliers, many of them ‘contracted’ on the basis of a handshake alone, sometimes over four generations. Most of the Riesling for this bottling, at a remarkably friendly price for the quality, comes from hillside sites in the higher, more southerly Haut-Rhin département, from St-Hippolyte to Thann, and what they call ‘a secret spot in Scherwiller’ north of the family’s base in the village of Ribeauvillé (below), where Riesling has the habit of retaining freshness even in hot years.

It is classic dry Riesling, its rich, floral nose backed up by incredible tension. It is bone dry but full of concentrated but racy fruit. You could enjoy it now but on the basis of older bottles of this wine I have seen, I don’t think there is any hurry whatsoever to drink it. It’s already beautiful – far more beautiful than most wines at the price – but I would happily try a bottle five years from now. I gave it a score of 16.5 out of 20 but reckon I may even have underscored it

Country: France

Vintage: 2020

Riesling

Alcohol Volume: 13%

Tasting Notes: A lean, floral nose, then a burst of lime and crunchy apple in the wash. The finish is clean and tight. A model,, cooler-style Riesling.

Style: Dry, Light

Food Pairing: Spicy Food, Salmon