Technical presentation
| Bottling : | February 2008 |
|---|---|
| Acquired alcohol : | 12.5° |
| Residual sugar : | 8 g/l |
| Total acidity : | 4.7 g/l H2SO4 (7.2 g/l Tartrique) |
| pH : | |
| Yield : | 37 hl/ha |
| Optimum tasting : | 2010-2025+ |
| Average age of vines : | 32 years |
| Grape variety : | Riesling |
| Terroir : | Clos Windsbuhl |
| Sweetness index : | 1 |
| Soil : | Muschelkalk calcareous, South East facing, South facing |
Description of the wine Riesling Clos Windsbuhl 2006
The Clos Windsbuhl is, with the Rangen vineyard, the less precocious site that we cultivate on the estate. The higher altitude, the old rocky calcareous soil, its location near the forest all participate to create a slow ripening process. Often criticized in the past for this characteristic, we think that on the contrary, it helps the grapes to keep a structure based on acidity and not alcohol, and also that the vines have more time to ripen the grape physiologically. In biodynamie, we would say that Saturn had the time to play its role… 2006 may have been a very precocious vintage with lots of grapes in Alsace suffering from rot, but here, in the Windsbuhl, it looked like the vines were disconnected from the vintage and that nothing happened. We were able to harvest the Riesling late, under great weather condition, without grey rot and of course, with this ‘Windsbuhl’ textbook acidity.
Tasting notes
01/2008 : The nose does warn you: be careful, this isn’t just another fruity easy Riesling style. It is packed with minerals, strong lees influence and it is almost possible to associate all those stony flavours with a raging acidity. The sugar maturity wasn’t high, so the wine appears elegant and delicate at first, but then the dry and racy character kicks in. This is great dry Riesling !
The Clos Windsbuhl of Hunawihr
The altitude of the vineyard coupled with Hunawihr’s tardy climate means that the Clos Windsbuhl is often one of the last of our vineyards to be harvested. This explains the aromatic quality of the Clos’ wines and the consistent balance of acidity, a guarantee of good ageing. Although often harvested late, the Windsbuhl grapes are only rarely botryitized, doubtless due to the altitude of the vineyard, but nevertheless often reach high levels of maturity.