Pinot Gris Clos Jebsal
2022
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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The Clos Jebsal was recomposed in 1983 when Léonard Humbrecht managed to put together all the different little vineyards on the Jebsal lieu-dit in Turckheim. The entire lieu-dit is only 1.3ha and was before divided amongst many small producers. Most parts were not planted since WW2. Its severe slope made it complicated to cultivate and most growers gave up. Until 1983. At the time, Riesling would have been also an obvious choice, but the deep and rich marl soil containing a higher clay percentage with excellent water reserves would allow any grape grown there to keep an excellent acidity and never suffer from drought. Recent vintages proved that point! This vineyard used to be an amazing place for noble rot, but as harvest is earlier under much drier condition, it made it very difficult to let the grapes go to VT or SGN level without problems. Since 2020, this vineyard is now harvested healthy, at normal ripeness, in order to produce a dry pinot-gris. And it works!
Pale yellow colour. As usual, the Jebsal has a very discreet nose, still restraint at this early stage of its life. We believe that this is the influence of the clay in this rich marl soil. Aeration will develop citrus aromas, leaving a sensation of tightness and purity, almost Riesling like! Despite being bone dry, the mid palate develops a rich soft texture enhanced by a saline acidity and complex bitterness. It clearly needs time to allow this quite powerful yet lean strict Jebsal to fully open. The finish is silky and elegant. This amazing terroir managed to go through a very hot vintage and still produce an extremely racy style of wine.
Welcome to the wild side of pinot gris, but don’t imagine for a second that this is a lush wine. In spite of all the power, this is super-cool and tense. If you have the patience, then let yourself sink into this incredibly dense and compact dry wine. Massive dark minerality in the extremely long finish. From biodynamically grown grapes
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