Latest releases from one of the great winemakers of Alsace: 2020 Zind Humbrecht

The latest 2020 vintage from Zind-Humbrecht in Alsace has just been released, which means it's that time of year when our task is to convince you that you should be drinking these wines on a weekly, if not daily basis!  With scores of 95-99 points and some epic tasting notes from James Suckling, these are not to be missed.

Alsace produces some of the world's greatest white wines and Olivier Humbrecht is one of its greatest winemakers.  The value and quality offered (by the grands crus, in particular) are extraordinary, grown on centuries-old sites, composed of highly complex soils thrown up by the steep slopes of the Vosges mountains.

If you are 'Alsace-curious', but unsure where to start, it's worth noting that Humbrecht's white winemaking style is savoury and terroir-driven.  Perhaps you have encountered varieties like Muscat, Pinot Blanc, Riesling and Gewurztraminer and found them highly perfumed, without the structure we associate with styles like white burgundy...but these are not those!  

Rather than a 'varietal' style of winemaking, Humbrecht's whites tend to express their sense of place first and foremost.  We were dismayed once when we encountered one of his wines in a blind-tasting exam, identifying it straight away as from Alsace, but with not a clue as to the variety.  It turned out to be a Muscat which, like Gewurztraminer, is supposedly one of the most identifiable varieties in the world and a 'banker' of a question in a tasting exam!  

With their naturally pronounced acidity and influence of white grape tannins which Humbrecht likes to emphasise, these wines have marvellous tension, even in ripe vintages like 2020.  As well as possessing excellent structure and expressing the identity of Alsace so brilliantly, these are 'food wines' par excellence and will enhance (and be enhanced by) so many different foods.  

New to our offer this year is the 2020 'Zind' Chardonnay Auxerrois, equal in quality to some of the best domaine-bottled Bourgogne Blancs.  Classified as a humble 'Vin de France', because Chardonnay is not permitted to be labelled under the Alsace appellation, this is from an excellent limestone-dominated vineyard and is great value at just £90 per six in bond!

By the way, if you are wondering why the '20s are only now being released, it helps to remember that Humbrecht ferments the wines incredibly slowly, often for up to a year, developing incredible flavour concentration in the process. 

Here are some extracts from Olivier Humbrecht's own notes about the warm 2020 vintage in Alsace:

2020 followed a beautiful 2019 vintage. ...Winter 2019/2020 was dry and mild. We feared an early budbreak, but colder temperatures in March delayed the budbreak to early April and there was no spring frosts after.

Dry and sunny conditions kept the risk of diseases very low and precipitated the start of the flowering at the end of May. The flowering was fast, finishing for most vineyards very early June...The whole month of August was very warm, so a second rainfall mid-August was again very beneficial and accelerating the ripening process, so the harvest started August 25^th with our valley floor Pinot-Gris. The speed at which the grapes ripened in 2020 is comparable to 2015. Early September, it was possible to measure up to 2.5% potential alcohol increase in a week! The 2020 harvest was epic, with the Covid restrictions and the need to really go fast, harvesting different vineyards every day, it was an organisational challenge. Checking vineyards regularly was crucial in determining the exact date of harvest. In some vintages, harvesting two days late has no consequences, but in 2020, it could mean that some wines would end up with residual sugar or excessive alcohol. There was some rainfalls early September but with no consequence. We finished the harvest the 15^th September with our Grand Cru Gewurztraminer vineyards. No late harvest wines were made in 2020 (too dry, very healthy grapes and no botrytis!).

The 2020 wines show good ripeness level and our efforts to be as much as possible on time to pick our vineyards (up to 90 people at one point) shows in the potential balance of the wines, with all wines being dry (really very dry for some) at the exception of single vineyard gewurztraminer. 2020 also has interesting acidity levels, mostly tartaric. Intense sunshine and luminosity helped the skins of the grapes to reach a good phenolic ripeness and therefore all the wines show great tannins, again, a characteristic very similar to 2015. 

You can read more about Domaine Zind-Humbrecht at the foot of our offer, below.

Offered pre-landing, available by January 2023.