I'm a fan of Hugel's wines and have posted on their higher-end Jubilee as well as the entry level "Gentil" before.   I talked a bit about Hugel's influence on the Alsatian wine industry in my earlier post on "Gentil", and still believe they are one of the finest producers in the region.  

Like other families in Alsace, the Hugel family has deep roots, going back through twelve generations to 1693, and now run by Etienne Hugel and remaining 100 percent family owned.   Based in Riquewihr, the winery is situated in the center of Alsace, and there are 74 acres, half of which are situated on the Grand Cru parcels of Sporen and Schoenenbourg.  Unlike other Alsatian producers, Hugel opts not to include the Grand Cru designation on its wines, in part due to the lack of selectivity with which the boundaries of the parcels were chosen.  Other producers, such as Trimbach and Beyer, followed suit (though Trimbach has recently indicated that it will produce a Grand Cru).

The Gentil rescusitates the old Alsatian tradition of blending wines, more common prior to World War Two.   Six of the eight allowed wines are blended here:  Pinot Blanc: 22%, Pinot Gris: 22%, Sylvaner: 22%, Riesling: 20%, Gewurztraminer: 12%, Muscat: 2%. (Missing are Pinot Noir and Chasselas.)  The wine is of a light straw color, and on the nose I get the gravelly terroir common to Alsace.  Acidity is moderate and great for serving with a variety of salads, vegetables, fish, chicken, and other foods.

On the palate I get pineapples, passion fruit, pears, a touch of cinnamon and an undercurrant of chalk with tart green apples on the finish .   I find the Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc dominating here, especially with the classic Alsatian oily, rich mouthfeel of Pinot Gris.   I tasted a small amount of residual sugar, likely from the Pinot Gris and Gewurtztraminer, but not in an offensive way.

For typically under $15 (and if you can find it, under $10) the Gentil remains a bargain, in spite of prices having crept up in recent years.   It's a great wine with a lot of complexity, and it is the type of wine you can savor in much the way you would for something much more expensive.  True to Hugel's form, they offer enjoyable wines at all price points in its lineup.  

$15 to $30

Oct. 10, 2011 HUGEL Alsace Gentil 2010 (87 points, $15)

This light-bodied white is clean and minerally, displaying hints of stone, lemon zest and white peach. A racy wine, with a mouthwatering finish. Gewürztraminer, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Muscat and Sylvaner. Drink now through 2012. 5,000 cases imported. —Alison Napjus

Interview on Riesling and Rugby, also on Alsace climate change

Kindly taped by Riki at Planet of Grapes in London and posted on drinkslover Facebook page on October 7, the day before my birthday, and before les Bleus' victory on England in the Rugby World cup...

Nice informal chat, on Alsace Riesling, styles and Rugby...

Hugel, Jubilee Riesling 2005 Alsace

29 Jul 2011 by Richard Hemming

From £22, £49.98, €31.95.

Find this wine

Persuading readers of this site to drink Riesling shouldn’t be a problem. Especially in Riesling week, no less. We are surely all devotees of this perennial gooseberry of a grape. But Alsace Riesling? When was the last time you honestly had one of those?

Doubtless many of us drink Alsace Riesling regularly, but I expect many more do not. Having visited Alsace recently, it is certainly back on my radar as one of the dazzling stars in the Riesling firmament, across the whole range of styles from everyday drinking to super premium, and always good value – one of Riesling’s key benefits.

There were many I could have chosen to feature here, but one stood out as an outstanding wine for its affordability and widespread availability: Hugel, Jubilee Riesling 2005 Alsace.

It’s a dry style yet has a wonderful honeyed character to the palate, which adds richness and weight. There is a mature, decadent, petrol-fuelled nose as well as the lime fruit and floral hints you would expect. There is a measure of refinement and elegance to this wine which encapsulates all that is great about Riesling. I enjoyed tasting it so much because it explains everything about the variety: the esoteric complexity, vanishing-point length and masterful balance which underpin greatness in any wine, plus tremendous value for money. All in one gulp.

It is also a formidable match for Vietnamese cuisine, with which we enjoyed our bottle. To be precise, we were at La Baie d’Halong in Colmar, a great little restaurant with a BYO wine policy that I can highly commend to anyone visiting the region.

The grapes for the Jubilee Riesling come from the Schoenberg Grand Cru, but Hugel are among several top producers who eschew this classification on their labels. (See more on this phenomenon in The Trouble With Alsace.) The hand-picked grapes are pressed, settled, fermented between 18 and 24 ºC and then racked and clarified. No bells or whistles here, the grape and terroir are left to do all the talking.

2005 is the current release for the Jubilee Riesling, meaning it comes to you fully developed and ready to drink, though with the capacity to age comfortably  for another six years or so. Hugel is well distributed around the world, to over 100 countries in fact. Even their website comes in nine languages, including Japanese, Chinese and Korean. If you can’t find the Jubilee bottling, their regular Riesling from 2009 is a very good bet, though without the preening brilliance of its grander sibling.

Last night LL made a damned amazing pasta dish using the recipe for salt and pepper seared shrimp from Sally Schneider’s The Art of Low-Calorie Cooking (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1990; large-format paperback edition 1993), a book we have cooked from so many times that the pages are coming loose and the recipes are spotted and stained; try to track it down. (The page with the “Cajun Meat Loaf” recipe actually has a curiously shaped smear of blood, like a clue in an Agatha Christie mystery novel; “I say, Poirot, look at this curiously shaped smear of blood in this cookery book! And what the devil is Cajun?”) Anyway, LL had made pesto from a bunch of basil we brought home from the Memphis Farmers Market on Saturday, and she tossed the pesto and the spicy, peppery shrimp with whole grain fettuccine (also from the MFM); that was it, brother, and it was great.

I opened a bottle of the Hugel “Hugel” Gewurztraminer 2008, from Alsace, and was glad that I did, because the spicy element in the wine — “gewurz” means, and is almost onomonopaeic for, “spicy” — and its vivid acidity proved to be a good foil for the dish, while its intensely floral and fruity qualities acted as a sort of congenial buffer. The “Hugel” designation indicates that the wine is part of the ancient estate’s “Classic” line of wines, and by ancient I mean founded in 1639. Grapes for these “Classic” wines derive either from estate vineyards or local vineyards under long-term contract. The wine opens with gentle whiffs of ripe peach and pear over a mild note of lychee; a few minutes in the glass bring out hints of quince and yellow plum, honeysuckle and rose petal and undercurrents of cloves, allspice and Evening in Paris, the perfume in the blue bottle we all used to buy at the local drugstore for Mother’s Day. The description so far makes the wine sound like a simple sort of an attractive, even seductive “don’t-bother-your-pretty-little-head” wine, but in the mouth matters get a bit more assertive as the spicy character gains momentum, the shimmering acidity and limestone-like minerality take control, and the wine turns itself willingly over to its structural components. Not that there’s not plenty of supple, suave apple, peach and pear flavors available for your pleasure, all of this devolving to a finely-knit, spicy, mineral-inflected finish. Not acutely intense — you would have to go back to 2006 for that — but very tasty and satisfying. 13 percent alcohol. Currently, the 2009 version of this wine is on the market, while the 2007, which you can still find in pockets around the country, is drinking very nicely and is likely discount-priced. Very Good+. Prices range ludicrously, as in from about $18 to $28, with most falling into the $22 to $25 point.

Have you fallen into a summer wine rut?  Are you drinking the same summer white wine all the time? Maybe you have found a wine you love so much, you can’t consider drinking anything else! Or, you may not have found any other wines that tickle your tastebuds.  This weekend I visited Eric Roby and Tara Cardoso at the WPEC CBS12 studios to talk about some alternative white wines under $20 for you to consider this summer.

You can view the short segment first, then continue on for some more information on each of the wines we discussed.

 

Matt Horbund’s CBS12 Summer White Wine segment on YouTube

One wine to think about this summer is Grooner 2009 Gruner Veltliner. Often called just Gruner, this wine is crisp and dry, with great acidity to pair with foods. It’s not sweet or fruity, and you’ll notice a lot of green flavors, from green apple to green grass to even green onion. For just $11, this wine is perfect for summer days. The tart green apple and other green flavors will be tamed a little with food, so be sure to try it on it’s own as well as with food. It works well with chicken, fish, and assorted cheeses.

 

Grooner 2009 Gruner Veltliner

Another great grape for summer is Gewurztraminer. It’s so often overlooked, yet it’s so delicious. Pronounced Geh-vurs-trah-mean-er, you’ll find delightful floral and lychee fruit flavors up front on this wine. However, there’s a perfect balance of baking spice that keeps the Hugel & Fils 2008 Gewurztraminer from going over the edge. I love it with only a slight chill, as opposed to ice cold. White wines should normally be served in the 50-55 degree range, though I prefer this one more towards “room temperature” or about 60 degrees. I feel the flavors open up as it warms up. Again, think chicken, fish, cheese, and pork when you think of food pairings with Gewurztraminer wines. I feel for $16, the Hugel Gewurztraminer is a great value. I think Gewurz will satisfy the palate of people who prefer sweeter or fruiter wines, while still being enjoyed by those who love dry, crisp wines.

Hugel2008 Gewurztraminer

Finally, there is the Fairvalley 2010 Chenin Blanc, from South Africa. You’ll find this wine straddling the flavor profile of two previous wines, with great acidity similar to the gruner, with lighter floral and fruit notes similar to the gewurztraminer. Fairvalley has a very neat story, where in the late 1990s they formed a co-op of sorts, with proceeds from their work goings towards housing and community development. I’ve enjoyed other chenin blanc from South Africa before, as well from France. In France, you’ll find chenin blanc coming from Vouvray, and I’ve discussed one of these Loire Valley Wines previously on CBS12 when looking at white wines from France.

Weinberg’s Wine Notes #145 - 2011’s Wine Potpourri Part II

Every wine is different

As I said in my last Potpourri column (see 2011’s Wine Potpourri Part I), I’m able to fit most of the bottles I like into various themes.  But there are some that I’ve been unable to shoehorn into tidy cubbyholes.  Many are tasted too soon after a column about similar wines.  Others require a delay to allow importation into the U.S. of the current vintage.  A few even occupy the niche of true oddball without compare.

 

What follows are notes on some of my favorite sample bottles, not easily categorized, that I’ve tasted over the past several months.  I focus on the wine’s ability to match with spring’s seasonal foods.  All of these recommendations hail from European vineyards, many of which may be unfamiliar to the American consumer.

Bubbles are awesome

Let’s start with two sparklers that pair well with appetizers of all stripes.  Ideally, Spanish cava should be an inexpensive way to satisfy one’s fizzy-tooth, and the Marques de Gelida Brut Reserve Cava more than fulfills that requirement.  Visually a creamy hue of yellow, on the tongue this explodes with citrus zest, ginger, pineapple and ginger ale.  It may be a bit sweet for Brut-lovers, but there’s tremendous value in this organically produced bottle.

 

While at January’s Vino 2011 festivities in New York (see Vino 2011: La Dolce Vita) I also enjoyed Contadi Castaldi’s straw-yellow Franciacorta Saten DOCG, hailing from Lombardy, Italy.  Initially this is a bubbling cauldron of dough and lemon zest, but with time the focus shifts to mint, clotted cream, sour apple and yellow pear.  The finish is all lime zest, zippy and fun.  I should note here that this wine is not yet in general U.S. distribution, but hopefully that will change soon.

Etienne Hugel in Alsace

One of the most fascinating white wines I’ve sampled in some time is Hugel’s Pinot Blanc Cuvee les Amours from Alsace, France, a creamy, golden raisin delight.  There’s also a ton of lime zest on the palate, and a bit of refreshing citrus pith on the bright, well-defined finish.

 

Another fun wine, this one sampled during last year’s epic European journey (see Wine On The Road in Piedmont), is Marziano Abbona’s Viognier Cinerino.  Viognier and Piedmont don’t usually roll off the tongue in the same sentence, but this mineral-laced, yellow-apple-focused beauty also boasts honey, white pepper and apricot on the mid-palate.  Pears and fresh-cut flowers abound on the steely finish, making this a classically proportioned Viognier from an unusual source.

As for reds, springtime usually means focusing on lighter, less tannic libations.  After all, warmer weather leads to an active lifestyle, and heavy red wine can weigh in the gullet.

From the Lombardy area of Italy comes Nino Negri’s brick-red Valtellina Superiore Sassella Le Tense DOCG, a great example of springtime juice.  This is 100 percent Nebbiolo and shows typical red and black raspberries at first.  The nose then shifts to cedar and cinnamon sugar, and the palate is black cherry, cardamom and allspice, with a black currant finish that’s high-toned but not overly acidic.

Barbara de Miguel, export manager for Bodegas Emilio Moro

Another enjoyable, mid-weight red is Emilio Moro’s Ribera del Duero from Spain, dark red and chocolaty, with black raspberry, prune and cola on the easy-going, relatively light finish.  This is a great barbeque wine, something definitely to consider when stocking a spring-ready wine cabinet.

 

 

Finally, dessert wines are almost by definition obscure.  As with bubbly, the wine world doesn’t drink enough stickies.  But this can play to the smart consumer’s benefit, as many of these bottles can be had for very reasonable sums.  One such value hails from the Tokaj region of eastern Hungary.  If your local wine merchant still stocks the 1999 Pajzos Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos, make sure you snag as much as you can.  Already 11 years old, this honeyed masterpiece positively drips cinnamon apple, dried apricot and cling peach through both nose and palate.

As I said in my last Potpourri column, the familiar has the advantage of being, well, familiar.  But wonderful surprises wait for those brave enough to sample less categorized alternatives, particularly at transitional times of year.  Try one of these spring-ready wines and see for yourself.

 

WINE ON THE ROAD’S TOURS OF WINE COUNTRY – PIEDMONT AND BURGUNDY IN THE FALL OF 2011

Wine On The Road

Wine On The Road (

www.wineontheroad.com), my wine-focused, luxury touring company, now allows you to join me for the ultimate in wine country experiences with special access to top winemakers and their incomparable wines.  Wine on the Road offers intimate, behind-the-scenes wine country tours that combine award-winning wines and exquisite dining and lodging with uniquely local flair and flavor.

I’m initially planning two tours in 2011 to explore Piedmont and Burgundy at the end of October and in early November.  Trip details as well as pricing are currently being determined, but planned stops include Gaja and Sottimano in Barbaresco, Domenico Clerico and Fratelli Revello in Barolo, M. Abbona and Pecchenino in Dogliani, J. M. Brocard and Christian Moreau Pere et Fils in Chablis, and Olivier Leflaive, Camille Giroud, Joseph Drouhin and Bonneau du Martray in the Cote d’Or.  Take a look at www.wineontheroad.com/tour_piedmont.php for more details.

 Another tour being planned for Tuscany in the spring of 2012 will focus on the wines of Chianti Classico and Bolgheri (home of the Super Tuscans).  Other trips are in development for Spain, Germany, South America and Spain, and you can also check into booking private groups in wine country world-wide by emailing tour@wineontheroad.com.

To secure your place with me on any of these tours or if you would like more information please email me at benweinberg@wineontheroad.com.

Recommended:

Sparkling

Marques de Gelida Brut Reserve Cava 2006 (Cataluna, Spain) $13

Contadi Castaldi Franciacorta Saten DOCG 2006 (Lombardy, Italy) $TBD

White

Hugel Pinot Blanc Cuvee les Amours 2008 (Alsace, France) $12/375ml

Marziano Abbona Viognier Cinerino 2009 (Piedmont, Italy) $37

Red

Nino Negri Valtellina Superiore Sassella Le Tense DOCG 2006 (Lombardy, Italy) $29

Emilio Moro Ribera del Duero 2007 (Ribera del Duero, Spain) $22

Dessert

Pajzos Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos 1999 (Tokaji, Hungary) $49/500ml