About this winery

Olivier Humbrecht is one of the world's most renowned winegrowers. He is a Master of Wine and has been described by Robert Parker as the greatest white winemaker on earth. Yet he is very soft spoken, humble, and self-deprecating, which makes him perfectly suited to his assumed role as a global ambassador of wine. He is a champion of terroir, biodynamic farming principles, and non-interventionist winemaking, whose family have been winegrowers in Alsace for 12 generations (since 1620). He is...

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Product notes

Bottling date: 8/2016; Alcohol: 14.2° alc; Residual sweetness: 4 g/l; 3.0 g/l H2SO4 (4.35g/l Tartaric), pH: 3.5; Yields: 28 hl/ha; Optimum drinking period: 2018-2030+; Average age of the vines: 31 years; Terroir: Sedimentary volcanic rocks. South facing, steep slope. Indice 1. This wine isn’t produced every vintage and only in small volume. It is made from some of our Pinot Gris vines that were planted between 1978 and 1995 in the Rangen vineyard in Thann. In extreme vintages like 2015, there is a clear difference with the oldest vines and we feel that they should be separated. Younger vines would often have less deep roots only sometimes a slightly higher crop, explaining the difference. It still originates from a superb vineyard and the volcanic rock influences strongly the taste and style of this wine. Harvested the same day as the older vines, it had a lower potential, no noble rot and was therefore able to ferment dry.

Production notes

The original Pinot-Gris vines were planted in 1963 on the Rangen vineyard. After acquiring the Clos-Saint-Urbain in 1977, the domaine planted subsequently more Pinot-Gris vines between 1978 and 1999. Some vintages, there is an obvious difference in behaviour between the oldest and youngest vines. The dark volcanic sedimentary soil does degrade and produce interesting clay and minerals that are drained deep into the grauwacke mother rock. It takes a long time for the vines to reach these profound layers and in years with less rainfalls, the younger vines can struggle more. 2022 is also a vintage that had a big potential of grapes, more visible on the younger vines, so the difference of yield between old and younger vines was an important factor motivating us to separate the two wines. Obviously, younger vines doesn’t mean ‘young’ vines at 39 years old average!

Tasting notes

Bright pale-yellow colour. Expressive fruity and smoky nose (smoked ham, grilled hazelnuts). The palate has a velvety texture, lots of depth and length without too much power. Gentle balance showing a saline acidity on the finish. Very easy wine to enjoy today. Dry, but with a certain softness due to a good dry extract that brings volume on the palate. Obviously Rangen in taste…