Riesling Selection de Grains Nobles Vendanges Tardives
⏳ Drinking Window
Typically best enjoyed 15 to 50+ years from the vintage release, with the potential to age gracefully for nearly a century.
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Roquefort or other artisanal blue cheeses, classic foie gras, apricot or pear tarts
✨ Technical Specifications
Famille Hugel's Selection de Grains Nobles (SGN) represents the absolute pinnacle of Alsatian sweet winemaking, a category that the Hugel family, particularly Jean 'Johnny' Hugel, personally championed and codified into law in 1984. Crafted only in exceptional vintages, this rare nectar is made from 100% Riesling grapes left on the vine to develop noble rot (Botrytis cinerea). Harvesters undergo painstaking multiple passes (tries) through the clay-limestone slopes of Riquewihr to select only the most perfectly shriveled, botrytized berries. Fermented slowly and aged in historic, century-old oak casks in the family's subterranean cellars, the resulting wine is a masterclass in tension, balancing luscious, honeyed sweetness with the searing, vibrant acidity characteristic of noble Riesling.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 1639 by Hans Ulrich Hugel in the fortified medieval village of Riquewihr, Famille Hugel represents one of the world's most enduring wine dynasties, spanning thirteen consecutive generations. The domaine oversees approximately 30 hectares of estate vineyards—largely concentrated in premier climats including the famed Grand Cru Schoenenbourg and Sporen—supplemented by contractual partnerships across Alsace. Sheltered by the Vosges Mountains in one of France’s driest meso-climates, the steep, south-facing parcels benefit from complex geological mosaics of Triassic limestone, marl, and sandstone. Viticulture follows sustainable lutte raisonnée principles with manual harvesting. Winemaking favors classical restraint: pneumatic pressing, spontaneous fermentation via indigenous yeasts, and élevage in century-old neutral oak foudres, devoid of cosmetic wood influence or chaptalization. Famille Hugel famously pioneered the modern codification of Alsace late-harvest wines; its benchmark portfolio is headlined by the dry, structured Grossi Laüe single-terroir bottlings alongside historically revered Vendange Tardive and botrytized Sélection de Grains Nobles cuvées.
🍇 Grapes
Riesling
🍷 ABV
7-10%