Gewurztraminer Selection de Grains Nobles
⏳ wine.drinking_window
Typically best enjoyed 15 to 40 years from the vintage, with top years easily cellarable for over half a century.
🍽️ wine.food_pairings
Blue cheese, pan-seared foie gras, apricot tarte tatin
✨ wine.spec_sheet
Famille Hugel's Gewurztraminer Sélection de Grains Nobles is a legendary sweet nectar born from the historic clay-limestone slopes of Riquewihr. The Hugel family, particularly Jean 'Johnny' Hugel, championed the strict legal definitions for Alsace's late-harvest and botrytized wines, culminating in the historic 1984 decree. This rare cuvée is crafted only in exceptional vintages when autumn mists and warm afternoons foster the development of Botrytis cinerea (noble rot). Harvesters painstakingly select individual shriveled grapes by hand over multiple passes through the vineyards. The resulting juice is fermented slowly and aged in the estate's historic, century-old oak foudres, yielding a wine of immense concentration, balancing opulent sweetness with vibrant acidity and complex notes of honeyed apricot, lychee, and exotic spices.
🍾 wine.about_producer
Established in 1639 in the picturesque medieval town of Riquewihr, Famille Hugel is one of Alsace's most historic and influential wine dynasties, passed down through more than twelve generations. The estate is globally renowned for championing the region's noble grape varieties, particularly Riesling, Gewurztraminer, and Pinot Gris, grown on the prestigious clay-limestone slopes of Riquewihr. Famille Hugel famously pioneered the strict guidelines for Alsace's late-harvest wines, Vendanges Tardives and S lection de Grains Nobles, which they craft alongside dry, mineral-driven masterpieces like their Schoelhammer and Grossi La e cuv es. Their winemaking philosophy emphasizes minimal intervention, utilizing historic, century-old oak casks in their ancient cellars to produce wines of exceptional longevity, purity, and terroir expression.