Riesling Selection de Grains Nobles
⏳ Drinking Window
2024 - 2045
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Blue cheese, foie gras, apricot tart, or enjoyed on its own as a meditation wine.
✨ Technical Specifications
Famille Hugel's Riesling Selection de Grains Nobles is a legendary sweet nectar born from a painstaking, labor-intensive process. Jean Hugel was the driving force behind the strict 1984 guidelines defining Alsace's late-harvest wines, and this cuvee represents the pinnacle of that vision. Sourced from the historic, steep clay-limestone slopes of Riquewihr, predominantly the Grand Cru Schoenenbourg, this wine is only produced in exceptional vintages when autumn mists and warm afternoons foster the development of Botrytis cinerea (noble rot). Harvesters must meticulously select individual shriveled berries over multiple passes through the vineyard. The resulting must is incredibly concentrated, fermenting slowly in historic oak casks to yield a masterpiece of intense acidity, luscious sweetness, and profound mineral complexity.
🍾 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
7.5% - 10%