Pinot Gris Rotenberg 2017

A Pinot Gris of great intensity, currently showing only half of what it's capable of. On the nose, muscat and rose, along with orange, nuts and lightly toasted almonds, rust, a touch of musk and Provençal spices, with a stony, cool component in the background. Precision, clarity and balance already define it.

The Rotenberg lies south of the valley near Wintzenheim, right up against the Vosges, facing north-northwest. Its limestone dates from the Oligocene, and the high iron oxide content colours the soils brick red, giving the site its name. The slope descends at a gradient of 30 to 40 percent, its surface eroded by glacial movement during the Quaternary, leaving the topsoil thin and very stony. Yields here are naturally low.

Pinot Gris from vines planted between 1972 and 1992, harvested partly mid-season and partly late. April frost and hail limited the vintage's yield; in the Rotenberg it came to 20 hectolitres per hectare. The wines rest on the lees for at least six months and leave the cellar only after one to two years. 2.6 grams of residual sugar stand against 3.6 grams of acidity and a pH of 3.3, with alcohol at 13.5 percent by volume.

Aromatically brighter than on the nose: rose blossom up front, with the muscat becoming increasingly noticeable. A fine tannic texture and creaminess carry the wine, which still feels reserved while the energy underneath is already at work. Twenty years of ageing potential or more are built in.

With Challans duck with bigarade sauce and celeriac purée, with baeckeoffe, or, for a vegetarian option, with pearl barley risotto with roasted cauliflower and cardamom.

Olivier Humbrecht, the first Frenchman to become a Master of Wine, farms 42 hectares and converted the first five hectares to biodynamic viticulture in 1996. For him, 2017 ranks among the three best vintages since the estate's founding in 1959. The Humbrecht family has been growing wine since 1620, and since 2019 Pierre Émile Humbrecht has joined as the eleventh generation.