Wine Vault: The House of Trimbach
John Gilman Wine Notes on Wines of Trimbach
The venerable house of Trimbach, established in 1626 is the most well-known Alsace producer in the United States. While Trimbach is nowhere near one of the largest domaines in Alsace (producing 80,000 cases per year), they are responsible for over one-third of all the Alsace wine sold in the United States. Built up over twelve generations, the house of Trimbach today may well be making the greatest wines in its history. The dynamic brothers Trimbach: winemaker Pierre and marketer extraordinaire Jean have continued to push the already high quality of Trimbach wines to new levels in the late 1980s and 1990s.
While Trimbach produces a fine range of Alsace's top varietals, the heart and the soul of the firm are their two flagship Grand Cru rieslings: Cuvee Frederic Emile and Clos Ste. Hune. Due to inflexibility in the appellation controlee laws, neither wine can labeled as Grand Cru. The Cuvee Frederic Emile comes from two contiguous Grand Crus: the limestone rich Geisberg and the steep lower slopes of the Osterberg vineyard. It is a classically racy, snappy Riesling that starts off life very tight and austere, and takes years to unveil itself from behind its girdle of acidity. As the wine matures, the richness and power of this wine becomes readily apparent. It is clearly one of Alsace's greatest rieslings, and really quite under-appreciated amongst the world's wine lovers. The tiny jewel of a vineyard of Clos Ste. Hune is France's greatest white wine. I do not say this lightly or in jest. Montrachet may get all the publicity, but the depth, power, complexity, laser-like focus, and the brilliant track record for aging of Clos Ste. Hune cannot be equaled by any other white wine in the world. First bottled in 1919, this tiny three acre walled-in vineyard lies in the larger Grand Cru of Rosacker. The 35 year-old vines are cropped at levels a third less than the norm of Alsace Grand Crus. The wine often starts out life with a bit of "puppy fat" that gives the false impression of sweetness and early drinkability. However, six months or a year after its release the Hune begins to shut down for hibernation, not to re-emerge in great vintages for ten to twelve years. Thereafter, it will drink magically for another couple of decades. Even lesser vintages (somewhat of an oxymoron for this wine) demand time in the cellar. But when this wine emerges from its extended sleep, it is one of the wine world's greatest treasures.
The Cuvee Frederic Emile wines were tasted in late January of 1997. The vintages were tasted in descending order, with the youngest being led to slaughter first. They were not tasted blind. The Clos Ste. Hune wines were tasted in similar fashion in February of 1996. I have added notes for two vintages of Clos Ste. Hune (1982 and 1991) that were not available for the vertical tasting. Both of these wines are some of the driest rieslings made in Alsace. Even the Vendages Tardives bottlings are quite dry, without the dizzying levels of residual sugar that are fashionable today at many of Alsace's most famous addresses. As the notes will attest, these were two of the most extraordinary tastings I have attended.
The Wine List:
Trimbach Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile
1992 Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile
1990 Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile
1989 Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile
1989 Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile Vendages Tardives
1989 Trimbach Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile SGN
1988 Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile
1987 Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile
1985 Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile
1983 Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile
1983 Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile Vendages Tardives
1981 Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile
1979 Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile
Trimbach Riesling Clos Ste. Hune
1991 Riesling Clos Ste. Hune
1990 Riesling Clos Ste. Hune
1989 Clos Ste. Hune Vendages Tardives
1988 Clos Ste. Hune
1986 Clos Ste. Hune
1985 Clos Ste. Hune
1983 Clos Ste. Hune
1983 Riesling Clos Ste. Hune VT- Trimbach
1982 Clos Ste. Hune
1981 Clos Ste. Hune
1979 Clos Ste. Hune
1976 Clos Ste. Hune
1975 Clos Ste. Hune
1973 Clos Ste. Hune
1967 Clos Ste. Hune Cuvee Exceptionnelle
1966 Clos Ste. Hune
Trimbach Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile
1992 Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile
Nothing "off vintage" about this wine! The nose is quite open for a young Cuvee Fred, with initial blasts of petrol giving way to scents of lemon, grapefruit, tons of minerals and wet stones- great vibrancy. Full, bright and very concnetrated on the attack, with a great core of fruit, bright acids, and superb length. While the flavors are quite youthful, this wine is quite easy to approach right now- though with no shortage of acidity to carry it a solid decade. This is a dynamite dry riesling for serious wine lists! 1997-2010. 91+.
1990 Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile
Has there ever been a greater vintage of Cuvee Fred? This is a profound, towering bottle of Grand Cru riesling. Very tight and closed on the nose, with scents of petrol, stones, minerals, lemon, tangerine and hints of corn kernel emerging with serious coaxing. Tight, closed, powerful, and totally bracing, with a tactile sense to the mid-palate, a huge core of fruit, and a huge, long, impeccably balanced finish. This is a very large-scaled Cuvee Fred that is so well focused and balanced that the overall impression is of a wine that is light on its feet. Profound potential, but don't open a bottle for another seven to ten years! 2005-2030. 94+.
1989 Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile
While the 1990 is a laser-like, minerally essence of riesling, the 1989 is much more open and exotic on the nose: aromas of papaya, dried apricots, petrol, geraniums, fennel and a fine bed of minerals explode from the glass. This is fatter and juicier on the attack (as opposed to the head slap of stones and lemony acidity that introduces the 1990), with great depth on the mid-palate, excellent structure, and fine ripe acids on the long, complex finish. This is also one of the legendary vintages of Cuvee Fred. Destined to forever live in the long shadow of the 1990, but this is one stunning bottle of wine! 2000-2020. 92+.
1989 Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile Vendages Tardives
One of the things I like best about the Trimbachs' vision of winemaking is their grown-up interpretation of Vendages Tardives. While many fashionable addresses in Alsace produce dizzyingly sweet, Auslese-like behemoths that win tastings but serve awkwardly (at best) at the table, a Trimbach VT is quite dry, with the levels of extract and acids turned up from the standard bottlings. In 1989 this has worked magically, with an explosive bouquet of super-ripe apples, pineapples, petrol, lemon, minerals, spring flowers and "resinous" tones I most often find in wines that hail from the great Grand Cru vineyard of Rangen. On the palate the wine is huge, long opulent, and starting to develop multiple levels of complexity, with tremendous ripeness, a huge core of fruit, and plenty of zesty acidity to give the wine lift and focus on the finish. Toweringly profound juice! 2002-2040. 96.
1989 Trimbach Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile SGN
Now this wine is as fine a bottle of Alsace dessert wine as I have run across my palate. The Trimbachs have managed to couple the usual minerally, racy characteristics of this cuvee to powerful, honeyed, heavily botrytized fruit of the 1989 vintage. The result is one of the top handful of wines of the vintage. On release, the nose displayed a lot of tropical pineapple from botrytis, but has since regained more of the petrol, lemon, and minerals so typical of Frederic Emile. On the palate, the wine is surprisingly racy for a "Selections de Grains Nobles" (though still a sweet wine), packed with botrytised fruit, has great extract and power, and a long, complex, very crisp finish. It has a fine girdle of acidity that gives the wine almost an Eiswein quality. Great stuff that I would put up any day against the much more obvious house styles of domaines such as Weinbach and Zind-Humbrechdt. This baby is built to age! 2003-2050. 96+.
1988 Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile
In this series of Cuvee Freds (we have been working backwards from youngest to oldest), this is the first wine that is showing signs of secondary and tertiary aromas and flavors. The nose offers up mature scents of corn kernel, apple, petrol, lemons, spring flowers, a fine underpinning of minerals, and hints of "salty" soil tones as well. Very full and concentrated on the palate, with great acids on the long finish. This wine is just hitting its apogee, where it should hover majestically for a solid decade, before slowly setting in the west. A tour de force. 1997-2010. 93.
1987 Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile
This wine is just getting a bit long in the tooth, with the fruit starting to dry out a bit on the finish. However, this is no small-scaled, delicate riesling: the nose is still quite full and petrolly, with notes of lemon and apple still holding sway over the petrol. The wine is fat and long, with decent acidity through the mid-palate, but with the hounds of age nipping at its heels on the finish. This is still a solid dinner companion for the next twelve months or so, but it has already been pushed to the limit. Certainly an unqualified success for 1987, but with its glory days behind it. Drink up. 86.
1985 Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile
The 1985 rieslings are certainly fine wines, but the large yields of this year has produced a bit of dilution vis a vis years such as 1988 and 1983. Still, this is a svelte middleweight that is just reaching its plateau of maturity: medium-full, complex and racy on the palate, with a fine girdle of acidity, a Germanic-like lace and filigree to the flavors, and a long, snappy finish. The nose is classic Fred: apple, lemon, "salt air", petrol and spring flowers. A very, very stylish wine that is ultimately betrayed by the slight dilution of the vintage. 1997-2020. 90.
1983 Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile
The 1983 is much deeper-pitched and opulent than the 1985 on the nose: scents of tangerine, lemon oil, ripe apples, grassy tones, petrol, minerals, and flowers waft from the glass. Full, fat and oily on the palate, with a fine core of ripe fruit, plenty of soil tones, and just enough acidity on the finish to keep this big boy reigned in. While this wine is drinking very well right now (and has been for quite a while), if this bottle is representative, it is time to drink this wine before the delicate balance starts to crack. 1997-2002. 91+.
1983 Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile Vendages Tardives
These two 1983s have reached their plateaus of maturity, but both have quite a few years of life ahead of them. Greater ripeness and a bit of botrytis make the VT more explosive than the regular bottle on both the nose and palate. The nose is just spectacular: scents of honeyed apples, apricot, petrol, spring flowers, salty tones, and loads of minerals soar from the glass. Great freshness coupled to serious evolution. Full-bodied and really packed with fruit, but with fine acidity, and just a whisper of residual sweetness on the finish. Overall, this has to be one of the driest styled VTs out there, and none the worse for it. A superb wine. 1996-2005. 93+.
1981 Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile
This is the surprise of the lineup. The nose is cut very much along the lines of the 1985, and is stunning: aromas of lemon, tangerine, crab apple, "salty soil" tones, petrol, herbal notes and flowers waft from the glass. Quite developed, but still quite fresh. Full-bodied, round, resolved and snappy on the palate, with framing acids and a note of sweet grapefruit on the finish. A super wine for drinking over the next five years. 1997-2008. 92.
1979 Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile
The 1979 has to be the great, unknown vintage for this wine! This is bigger, and younger than the 1981. The nose is mature, fresh and profound, with scents of apple, lemon, corn meal, toastiness, wet stones, petrol, "salt air" and flowers. Really smells of the sea! Very full and fresh on the palate, with great delineation of flavors, a huge core of fruit, brisk acids, lovely resolution, and a long, whiplash of a finish. This is a great, great Cuvee Fred! There are not many Grand Cru rieslings that can deliver like the Fred. Years of life ahead of it! 1997-2010. 95.
Trimbach Riesling Clos Ste. Hune
1991 Riesling Clos Ste. Hune
This Hune is shockingly good for a 1991, though it is still in its youthful, slightly sweet stage. Qualitatively, this wine is about on par with the 1986, though stylistically the two wines are very different. The 1986 is ultimately a Herculean effort from a vintage of modest ripeness. The 1991, on the other hand, displays much more ripeness and breadth of flavor, as if the wine was undone by a cool and rainy fin de saison. The nose offers up scents of lime, green apple, papaya, petrol, hints of honey, spring flowers, and loads of minerals. Full-bodied, but deceptively soft and easy going on the palate, with a huge attack of ripe fruit, a firm core, and surprisingly good length on the finish. There is still a bit of puppy fat on display here, but the depth and richness of the wine auger very well for future development. Clos Ste. Hune has a history of firming up dramatically after settling in for eighteen moths after shipping, so expect this wine to shut down dramatically over the next year, and to emerge from hibernation around 2003. The 1991 Clos Ste. Hune should end up somewhere between the 1986 and 1988 in quality. 2005-2025. 90+.
1990 Riesling Clos Ste. Hune
A spectacular, profound nose of dappled green light, melon, lemon, lime, hints of honey, vanilla, spring flowers, minerals, plenty of petrol, and a topnote of corn kernel. The nose changed numerous times over the hour that the bottle was open. All the fruit tones have this beautiful "candied" freshness to them, with tremendous ripeness that never crosses the line to overripeness. Huge and impeccably balanced on the palate, with a massive core of fruit, stunning clarity from sound, snappy acids, and a long, complex avalanche of a finish. A hint of this wine's heady alcohol poked through over the first ten minutes, but was subsumed into the fruit after the wine opened up a bit. One of the twelve wonders of the world. 2006-2040. 98+.
1989 Clos Ste. Hune Vendages Tardives
This wine has already begun to shut down over the last few months, though it still delivers a thrilling ride. Unmistakably one of the great young Hunes, this wine will open up in the next eight to ten years and deliver on e of the most extraordinary bottles of white wine known to the human race. The nose is a surreal melange of tropical fruit tones and classic Hune terroir: papaya, lemon, kiwi, tangerine, petrol, minerals, and spring flowers are the dominant scents, tough there are a panoply of indescribable nuances just beyond the reach of description. Huge and palate-staining on the palate, with layer upon cascading layer of super-ripe fruit, snappy acidity, perfect focus and balance, and an onslaught of a finish that must last two and a half minutes. A legend in the making. 2000-2025. 98.
1988 Clos Ste. Hune
This too is a brilliant Hune. Very deeply concentrated on the palate, with perfect focus, a squeaky clean disposition, and phenomenal length and snap on the finish. The nose is quite reticent, but offers up quintessential Clos Ste. Hune aromas of lemons, mint, minerals, "green fruits", and a nascent hint of petrol. Very broad-shouldered, though still very closed, this will be a stunning bottle of wine. 2000-2020. 93+.
1986 Clos Ste. Hune
Here is a rare and beautiful example of a wine that is a perfectly sculpted, scaled-back version of itself in a bigger vintage. The wine is only medium-bodied, but is very, very intensely concentrated on the palate, which whips across like a blade of penetrating fruit and terroir. The nose is truly lovely, with scents of lemon, vanilla, tangerine, soil, mint and floral tones. Clean and vibrant on the palate, with still a few years to go before it hits its apogee. A fine, fine wine that transcends the vintage. 1998-2010. 90.
1985 Clos Ste. Hune
Interestingly, this wine is not as tightly-knit and buoyant as the 1986. However, it offers up a youthful, brilliant green nose of lemon, tangerine, herb tones, minerals, mint and spring flowers. It is medium-full on the palate, with lovely, almost malic acid tones, without the profound saturation of 1983, but a lacy, racy quality that it very exciting. An ethereal palate impression, to which words do not do justice. This will be a great, great Hune. 2005-2025. 94+.
1983 Clos Ste. Hune
Amazingly, this is even a step up from the 1985! Here the lower yields have translated into a wine that is more obviously extracted and powerful, while at the same time, just as perfectly balanced as the 1985. The nose explodes from the glass with scents of tangerine, lime, beeswax, petrol, and kaleidoscopic mineral tones. Huge and palate-staining in its extract on the palate, with a tremendous core of fruit, zesty acidity, flawless balance, and a near magical finish. I have had this wine on a number of occasions previously, but never where it has shown this well. It may just be starting to open! This is one of the greatest white wines I have ever tasted. 2000-2030. 97.
1983 Riesling Clos Ste. Hune VT- Trimbach
I love this vineyard. I have had more forward, opulent examples of this stunning wine over the last couple of years. This particular bottle was just shipped from the Trimbach's cellars, and it is fresh, tight, and youthful. Oh yes, did I mention spectacular! Is there a more complex white wine nose than Clos Ste. Hune? Every time I read my tasting notes of this wine, I think of how damnably inadequate language can be on certain occasions. The purity and nuance of fruit tones in this wine defy accurate description. They're all in there! Perhaps I get notes of lemon, lime, apple, tangerine, gooseberry and papaya. Also along for the ride are scents of cut grass, petrol, salty/chalky soil and spring flowers. Okay, once again it tastes of bottled, dappled June sunshine...ridiculous. At 9:30 A.M. Good lord...but it does. Anyway, the wine is a big, full, focused thoroughbred, with perfect focus and plenty of acidity. The finish is huge in scale, yet so harmonious that it leaves one left with an impression of lightness and grace when it gets around to finishing a few minutes later. Would that I had the patience of the taster next to me who kept this wine around in the glass for a couple of hours to really witness its unfolding. Sheer magic. From now on I vow to only drink Clos Ste. Hune as white wine at dinners where Henri Jayer will be served. Since 1919, this has been Alsace's single greatest wine. 2000-2025. 96+.
1982 Clos Ste. Hune
This is the finest Clos Ste. Hune from the 1980s for current drinking. Not a great vintage, just a great wine. Totally mature, but with enough acidity to keep it rolling for another two or three years. The nose is delightful, with scents of petrol, lemon, honey, pomegranate, salty, chalky soil tones, tangerine, and floral topnotes. With air, this wine got better and better. Medium-full and quite resolved on the palate, with a fine core of fruit, excellent balance, and a long, complex finish. The consistent quality of this wine, year in and year out, is extraordinary. 1887-2000. 90.
1981 Clos Ste. Hune
This too is a fine wine, but it is one of the least distinguished of this stellar lineup. The nose is a fine melange of more mature aromas: cooked peaches, petrol, corn kernel, ripe tangerines, a hint of toastiness, and a bit of a leather topnote. Full-bodied and quite dry on the palate, with fine depth and extract in the mid-palate, and a long, but slightly soft finish. This is the first in the range that is really ready to drink, and it lacks just a bit of the laser-like brightness that seems almost routine with Clos Ste. Hune. But of course, on its own, this is a lovely wine. 1996- 2003. 92.
1979 Clos Ste. Hune
Here we are back up in the clouds! This wine is dazzling: and explosive "green fruit" nose of mint, lemon, sweet tangerines, vanilla cream, just a touch of honey, floral tones, and a gorgeous base of Clos Ste. Hune minerals. Full-bodied and racy on the palate, with a wonderful buoyancy to its palate; great structure and zesty acidity coupled to a "creaminess" of texture that the great vintages of this wine possess. A very long, snappy, profoundly complex finish. An awesome, bouncy beauty. Drinkable now, but, perhaps this is still on its way up! 2000-2025. 96.
1976 Clos Ste. Hune
Probably not a representative bottle. Quite dark in color: apricot, corn kernel, and minerals. Does not taste cooked so much, as a bottle that has been stored around seventy throughout an important stretch of its life. ?
1975 Clos Ste. Hune
Sheer profundity! Here is a glass of some mystical, magical elixir that no groping tasting note can even hope to describe. The nose is hauntingly profound, with scents of ripe lemons, apples, tangerines, mint, spring flowers, plenty of mineral, and an ethereal combination of clean, pure vegetative scents that can only be described as a sunny morning in June. (I know, hopeless, flowery descriptions that come nowhere near the mark!) A quintessence of perfectly clean, concentrated riesling on the palate, given lift and freshness by perfectly integrated, fresh acidity, plenty of extract, and a laser-like focus and finish. Very, very full-bodied, but so cunningly balanced that it comes off as light and lacy. A fountain of near perfection. Will the 1990 reach these heights? 1996- 2015. 99.
1973 Clos Ste. Hune
Here is another superb Hune: the nose is magnificent, with scents of petrol, lime, tangerine, corn kernel, minerals, and a touch of honey. Underneath it all, the undeniable insistence of soil. Rich, full-bodied, and exceptionally fresh and focused; this is another tour de force of bright fruit and acidity, coupled to the extraordinary soil tones of the Hune. Fine length, perfect focus, and a powerful, racy finish make this another otherworldly Clos Ste. Hune. Drinking magnificently now, this wine still has years and years to go before it begins to lose any of the magic. Just a whisper behind the surreal 1975! 1996- 2010. 96.
1967 Clos Ste. Hune Cuvee Exceptionnelle
The Cuvee Exceptionelle designation is the equivalent of Vendages Tardives. This is a very rich wine of obvious botrytis. The nose is certainly very fine, with scents of apricots, honey, petrol, a touch of saddle leather, and loads of minerals. Full-bodied, long, crisp, and beautifully-balanced on the palate, with tones of honeyed fruit, fine focus, and a long, sumptuous finish. While this is delicious juice, somehow, the extraordinary terroir of Clos Ste. Hune is lost under the wave of botrytized fruit. On its own, this is certainly a fine wine; but in the context of the dizzying heights that Clos Ste. Hune can hit, this wine leaves me just a bit cool. 1996-2002. 90.
1966 Clos Ste. Hune
This, on the other hand, is just magnificent! A profound nose of corn kernel, coffee, peach pit, petrol, a bit of honey, leather, grilled nuts, and minerals, soars from the glass. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, very complex, and very classically Clos Ste. Hune in terms of flavor profile. The balance is excellent, with great freshness and focus (especially on the attack). It is just beginning to show its age on the finish, which is not ragged by any means, but does not quite live up to the promise of the attack. This is a toweringly great wine that is at the tail end of its apogee, though has not yet begun to slide. It should still be delicious for ten or more years, but it has reached the point of diminishing returns. I would opt for drinking this beauty sooner, rather than let it slide from the magical peak where it has been residing for the last ten to fifteen years. AS rare and special treat. 1996- 2005? 94+.
