Vivid straw-green with gold highlights. Highly aromatic on the nose, revealing hints of pear, lime, white pepper, candied ginger, quince and even raspberry. Enters sweet, then turns more austere and piercing. The penetrating, long, very suave finish offers complex, concentrated flavors similar to the aromas. That rare note of raspberry repeats in the mouth. A readier-to-drink CSH than usual, but it will age well. The Clos has been organically farmed since eight years ago, and I while I am very careful about making blanket statements on this subject, I think that the wines are now even better than they were before. Whether it’s the organic farming or not, I don’t know, but the possible connection is intriguing, to say the least.
Trimbach's iconic 2017 Clos Ste Hune Riesling is from an exceptional 1.67-hectare plot on the grand cru Rosacker in Hunawihr that has belonged to the family for more than two hundred years. The vines cultivated on this south/southeast-facing cru on Muschelkalk limestone and yellow limestone average over 50 years of age. The 2017 opens with a clear, intense and elegant nose of fully ripe and even dried white fruits intermingled with fine terroir aromas of weathered limestones and even hints of iodine and grapefruit. Elegant and fresh on the palate, this is a highly complex, saline and juicy but alkaline, structured Saint Hune with aromatic lemon and grapefruit aromas intermingled with ripe and fine tannins and a characteristic salinity that lingers and lingers. The concentration and complexity of this superb dry Riesling is uplifted on the finish that is spectacularly long, indicating a still youthful wine that will benefit from further bottle aging and can be aged for decades.