2016 Domaine Zind-Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Roche Calcaire

“The 2016 vintage was just weird weather-wise. We had 300 millimeters of rain up until May, then a desert after that. At least there were no frost problems, unlike 2017,” said Olivier Humbrecht. Still, he likes the wines of 2016, finding them to be “the product of a lovely harvest characterized by beautiful-looking grapes with low potential alcohol. For example, in some vineyards the Rieslings needed a full month to gain one potential degree in alcohol, and longer hang time, but where there was drought, reaching both technological and polyphenol maturity was hard.” At Zind-Humbrecht, the 2016 vintage also took place over a longer period of time than that of 2015, for example: over 6 weeks in 2016, as compared to only three weeks in 2015. For the most part, the 2016 Zind-Humbrecht wines sport lovely acidities with interesting pHs ranging from 2.7 to 3.3 and will likely prove to be good food wines with lower alcohol levels than usual. Humbrecht was happiest with his Pinot Gris wines in 2016. He did not make much VT or SGN because noble rot arrived too late, when weather had turned wet and humid. -From Alsace: The 2016s & Late-Released 2015s (Apr 2018) by Ian D’Agata