2001 Gewurztraminer Vendange Tardive

The corresponding 2001 Gewurztraminer Vendange Tardive – harvested very late in the Pflostig, whereas traditionally Hugel Gewurztraminer V.T. has come from the earlier-ripening Sporen – smells of rose petal, caraway, and celery seed, offers the palate a rather sweet-sour combination of herbal pungency and honeyed, residually sweet richness, and finishes with impressively lingering rose petal and honey. This will not doubt have better days ahead of it, and certainly there is no need to worry about a dozen or more years in the cellar for any of these Hugel 2001 vendange tardive releases. The Hugels – like the Beyers and Trimbachs – are true to tradition in their emphasis on dry-tasting wines across the varietal spectrum and in the release of their best wines only after a year or (usually) more of bottle age. As with Muscat, there is no “regular” bottling of Pinot Gris at Hugel, but rather one begins with a wine of primarily estate origins. In 1999 and 2003, Hugel elected to separately bottle the fruit of their oldest Pinot Noir vines (planted in 1966 in a parcel in the Pflostig known as “Les Neveux”). Importer: Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700.