TN: An Alsace and a Saint-Emilion

[Ramon_NYC]

2002 Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile Riesling. Alsace
Smelled of ripe fruit, confection, turpentine and some pineapple. It drank very nicely, slight tropical fruit, slate, lemon. A well-crafted white wine. Class. I liked it enough that I purchased some more. Drank with some Nova Scotia and Pt. Reyes oysters freshly-shucke from Wild Edibles. A-

1995 Ch. Beausejour Duffau-Lagarrose, Saint-Emilion
I picked up some nice-looking beef short ribs at my local butcher and which I marinated Korean-style for 12 hours and then oven-broiled. The ribs were a hit and the wine proved to be a good match. The wine was compact, with lean sweet red fruit that approached in layers. Medium-bodied. Had that New Worldish feel to it. I liked the acidic finish with the tannic bite. It delivered. A-

[JimHow]

Thanks for the report, Ramon, 1995 Bordeaux seems to be coming into its own.

Can anyone tell me anything about the Alsace pictured below, vintage 2004?

[Chasse-Spleen]

It looks tasty!

[Ramon_NYC]

Jim,
That Gewurztraminer has me hankering to order in some good Chinese or Thai food to go along with it.
I don't know enough about Hugel, but what's the vintage on that bottle?

[JimHow]

2004, Ramon, do you know anything about that vintage in Alsace?

[jal]

I'm sure people will disagree with me but I don't know that vintage matters that much in Alsace.

[JCNorthway]

Jim,

I just stumbled across a vintage rating chart put out by RP. He rates recent Alsatian vintages as follows:

2004 - 86 early maturing and accessible

2005 - 87 ready to drink
2003 - 82 ready
2002 - 86 ready
2001 - 91 ready
2000 - 90 ready

Hugel is a large producer who I'm sure makes quality wines. This appears to be a basic Gewurtz as opposed to a vineyard selection - sort of like a Bourgogne compared to a Volnay or Pommard. I would predict it is a decent wine, but not in any way special. And it would be a wine to drink now vs. cellaring. Of course, this is all based on never tasting it!

Jon

[Ramon_NYC]

I'm not familiar with Hugel, but according to their website, it doesn't look like that the Jubilee bottling is their basic bottling. Here's something that I cut-and-pasted:

"These wines come exclusively from the finest vineyards in the "Hugel" estates, and are made in only the very best vintages.
Harvested at perfect maturity, in the oldest vineyards of the estate ...".

[JimHow]

Thanks for the help. It is $35 in NH, I may or may not buy a bottle just out of curiosity.

[sdr]

Gewurtztraminer is an acquired taste I never acqured.

It has a very strong smell of lychee nuts and other exotic fruits and may be slightly sweet. Hugel is reliable, very good but rarely great in my experience (across the board). If you like the taste, I agree with Ramon that Chinese or othe Asian cuisine works best.

Stuart