Hugel, Riesling Vendanges Tardives Grand Cru, Altenberg de Bergheim

Farbe: goldgelb Nase: süße reife Aprikosen, etwas Honig Gaumen: mittlerer Körper, reife gelbe Frucht, leichte Säure Gesamt: Säure und Süße gleichen sich gut aus

This has such great complexity and character for an Estate level wine. What a delight, merci beaucoup! Tasted at the winery in Riquewihr, then purchased a bottle. A Full bodied wine with citrus, apricot primary, cedar & dough secondary and nut, kerosene & dried herb tertiary flavours, High acid, no tannin and Medium (11%) alcohol. We rated this wine Very Good.

Bbeautiful wine, first time trying a VT. had along side a sauternes from climens. this had the acidity to deal eith the rich puddings we had. The sauterne in comparison felt flat and flabby by comparison

This was not a bad wine but came across much more like an off-dry riesling than a supposed late harvest. Apricot, honeysuckle, camomile, lavender - it’s all there but the acidity is high and the sweetness is dialled down and was a bit of a disappointment with our dessert.

Sweet but not at all cloying. Simply staggering with salty blue cheese. Oily and unctuous. Notes of peaches, cream, limes, apricots, honeysuckle and that telltale kerosene. Generous and delicious. Cannot imagine this ageing badly, so would happily keep for decades.

Thought this would age better but this was over the top

A bit of petrol and kerosene and some struck match- a potentially explosive combination! However the palate was far from that with citrus, zippy fruit but not as rich or unctuous as I prefer. It seemed off dry to me rather than sweet and certainly seemed sharp compared to the apple tart we drank it with.

Coravin fun - Old new and new old arrivals : Opened and under argon. Honey, apple and custard apple, a little almost white peppery spice and a tiny touch of sulphur. Underpinning this there is a little lime and lime pith. On the palate the acidity is a little sharp for the residual sugar and the favours are similar to the aromas - honeyed apple with a little lime curd over custard apples. It finishes a little warm but is …

PFV tasting.

Prince - Hugel tasting (Prince Sydney, 40 Hansard Street) : Low intensity aromas of muted honey and mineral notes, slight cream, spice and almost toasty notes after plentiful agitation. Rich. Despite the residual sugar the wine has some searing acidity, lime, slight honeyed notes, mineral notes. Hmm, out of whack.

Random Notes from Travels in France; 4/6/2012-4/14/2012 (Paris, Loire, Alsace) : Half bottle. Quite light. Fantastically complex aromatics-petrol and herbs. All of that and tart green papaya fruit on the palate with blazing acidity but the additional layer of VT texture. This must be one of the driest Vendage Tardives I've ever had; in fact, it had a lot in common with the great '96 Clos Ste. Hune that we drank earlier today. Wow. Both Hugel wines we had tonight …

A nose of quince and grapefruit gives way to tropical fruits on the palate underpinned by a stony minerality that takes a little time in the glass to make itself felt. With time, more evolved notes - of olives, nuts - begin to emerge. Mouthfeel is suitably viscous, while a zippy line of acidity keeps the whole thing in balance. I had thought this wine had peaked two years ago, but it's holding up brilliantly and at this rate should …

On the other hand, the 1996 Hugel Riesling Vendange Tardive just didn’t deliver. It poured as golden honey with an inviting nose to match. The initial flavor was of honeyed peaches with a hint of botrytis, it’s quite full in the mouth with noticeable acidity and a bit of rs. But there was just no finish to speak of and the wine was just dull and flat, particularly compared with the vibrancy of the Brundlmayer. This bottle was of dubious …

Typical but somewhat subtle nose of tropical fruit, pineapple, honey and lemon rind. Gentle acidity with a off dry mouth but strangely enough dry almost grapefruit like finish. Medium length. An hour after opening, more interesting aroma of hazelnut and mineral starts to emerge. Almost reminiscent of a champagne brioche nose. Quite complex and kept evolving a bit more. Probably 87 on opening and up to 92 an hour later. An excellent to outstanding effort. (This is from a 375 …