2001 Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile 375th Anniversary
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Tasting notes
(12.7% alcohol; 7.9 g/l total acidity; 3.11 pH; 1.6 g/l residual sugar): Bright golden yellow. Ripe aromas of riesling with a little bottle age: hints of diesel fuel join yellow peach, blood orange, lemon drop, gin, powdered stone and licorice. Enters rich and dense, almost fat, then rising, harmonious acidity frames the honeyed citrus, dried apricot and ginger flavors. This is much less floral than the Clos Ste. Hune of the same vintage. The long finish features persistent notes of yellow peach and beeswax. Though this is very accessible already, it will improve further in a good cellar, entering its optimal drinking window in a few years and giving great pleasure for another two decades after that. Ten days of fog late in the season allowed for the production of great noble rot-affected wines in 2001, not unlike those of 1967, but the Cuvée Frédéric Emile is devoid of any botrytis-derived aromas or flavors. The grapes for this wine are usually harvested by October 20th, but in 2001 Trimbach picked until mid-November. Readers should note that a special 375th anniversary bottling of this wine was also produced in 2001. It's even deeper and more structured than this regular bottling, but it carries a hint of residual sweetness that, in my view, detracts from the classicism and purity for which the Cuvée Frédéric Emile has become famous.
Critic scores
Average Score
Ian D'Agata
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The virtues of the 2001 Trimbach Rieslings will by now be well known to readers, but in another year or two they will release a 2001 Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile 375th Anniversary representing a small lot of late-picked Osterberg. Smelling of honey and herbal elixir, it offers a creamy texture, refined peach, honey and mint flavors, and a vivid sense of salt, chalk and wet stone minerality. This might ultimately approach the quality of the 2001 Clos Ste-Hune, and will be one to enjoy over a twenty year period, as despite its elegance it is uncannily concentrated (and, incidentally, despite its richness perfectly dry). The Trimbach family continues to render some of the world’s finest Riesling; to uphold the principle that wine of Alsace (unless V.T.) should not taste sweet; to release wines only when they believe those wines say “it’s time”; and to ship 40,000 cases (or 40% of their production) to the United States. Notable developments on the occasion of my recent visit were the enhanced quality of their reserve level wines as well as outstanding performances with Pinot Gris. The wines on which I report below include some of those currently in the marketplace or about to appear, but most of the 2004s and 2005s will not be released for 1-3 more years. By the time early October rains struck in 2005, the team here had harvested everything other than their top Riesling. Yet, even though some of their most striking successes were picked unusually early, the upper-tier Rieslings here seem to have suffered neither dilution nor obscurant botrytis. The Trimbachs clearly rolled with any punches nature administered in 2004 (although by the time they harvested, abundant initial bunches had morphed into low yields), delivering Riesling of startling clarity and concentration that showcases its minerality and acidity. But in view of so much negative rot, they declined to attempt any nobly sweet selections. Importer: Esprit Du Vin French Wine Merchants & Select European Estates, 48 Harbor Park Drive, Port Washington, NY 11050; www.edvwines.com
Uncompromising aromas of crystallized lemon peel and powdered stone. Tactile, dusty and quite dry; almost salty with extract. A compellingly pure expression of minerality, in need of several years of aging.
(a selection of mostly old vines in the grand cru Osterberg) Aromas of lemon, mint and caraway seed. Creamier and sweeter than the "regular" Frederic Emile, with an almost exotic peachy ripeness and a strong spice character. This is wonderfully sweet and full, with considerable flesh on its bones. Finishes very long, fresh and tight, with the wine's strong underlying minerality making itself felt on the back end. I was shocked to be told that this wine was carrying only five grams of residual sugar. The impression of sweetness, according to Pierre Trimbach, is from the wine's huge dry extract.