Hugel, Riesling Hommage Jean Hugel

No formal notes here, but some advice. I did a slow O on this for about 14h, and it wasn't nearly enough. It took another 2-3 hours of open decant to reach its potential. Extremely good. I enjoy Blankiet for its red fruit, acid, and minerality.

Bottled for The Wine Society. Deepish gold. Lovely mature riesling nose. Honey, apricots and a hint of petrolly minerality. Gorgeous palate. Really precise, textbook Alsace riesling. A sense of richness, even sweetness, but there's an underlying, but barely expressed acidity that keeps it all in perfect balance and leaves the side of my tongue tingling while the rest of the tongue revels in the excellent length. Glorious. Particularly glorious with goose liver parfait on wholemeal crumpets.

Drank over 3 days, kept under vacuvin. No detectable change over the time, not much difference from my previous bottle. The wine is still very lively, with beautiful orange juice acidity, warm aromas of aged riesling, mild spice, mild sweetness. Long and persistent, light orange zest bitterness on the long finish. Very good and memorable.

Beautifully bitter-sweet. Clearly recognizable aged riesling aromas, spice. Medium sweet balanced by surprisingly lively acidity, full body, oily, honeyed, very pleasant mouthfeel, spicy and long. Could be cellared for another 3-4 years easily, but it is a joy to drink now. Serve not very chilled and definitely not as a companion to a dessert.

unexpectedly sweet, a bit flabby without the acidity to balance it. On the downward slope I think - a hint of apple juice about this. Not bad having said all that. **

This was a gift from someone who clearly didn’t know I feel Hugel are over-rated producers of vapid swill. In theory, one should be expecting this to compel with complex characters of classy calibre, being made from a selection of the best late-harvest fruit grown on the outstanding Schoenenbourg Grand Cru in what was a super vintage for Alsace Riesling. But then, alas, it was Hugel who picked and vinified it. It has merrily meandered a decent distance down oxidised …

Purchased at the Cellar Door a couple of years ago A honey golden color with quince marmalade, white fruits, flowers, seashells, and early hints of petrol on the nose. Very well textured with the RS a bit off balance at this time in its evolution. Very fine, but I think in between its youthful vigor and later complexity. I iwll let the remaining bottles sit for 5+ years. 88+pts