Riesling Heimbourg 2020

A dry Riesling with drive: densely packed, delicate and precisely drawn, still closed in its youth and with reserves for years to come.

The Heimbourg single vineyard sits on a small, steep hill that rises from the Vosges east of Turckheim. The slopes run from southwest to west over marl, limestone and sandstone from the Oligocene. The iron-rich, coastal limestones carry high silica content, over 45 percent active lime and little clay; drainage is excellent, and the Riesling ripens slowly while retaining its acidity.

Pure Riesling. The sunshine of the 2020 vintage brought the grapes to ripeness without botrytis; an intense yet slow fermentation produced a very dry wine. Until bottling, 17 months after harvest, it rested on fermentation lees in large old oak casks.

On the nose, orange, grapefruit, mango and angelica, alongside ginger, anise and yeasty, smoky undertones; with age, earthy truffle notes emerge. The palate is powerful and playful at once, crisply dry and precise, and the long finish brings back citrus fruit, a saline streak and yeasty spice.

A wine for the table: linguine with porcini and truffle, lemon risotto with grilled octopus or beef fillet strips with lime, pak choi and peanuts.

Olivier Humbrecht, the first Frenchman to hold the Master of Wine title, converted the first five hectares to biodynamic farming in 1996; today the estate, family-run since 1620, farms 42 hectares, worked with horses on the steepest sites. No wine leaves the cellar before one to two years of ageing. Decant the Heimbourg 2020 one day before opening and serve not too cold in large Burgundy glasses.