Riesling Vendange Tardive
⏳ wine.drinking_window
Typically peaks between 10 to 30 years from the vintage, though exceptional years can easily evolve beautifully for half a century.
🍽️ wine.food_pairings
Rich seafood dishes such as lobster thermidor, roasted veal or poultry in creamy wild mushroom sauces, and mature, flavorful cheeses like aged Comte or Munster.
✨ wine.spec_sheet
Hailing from the picturesque medieval village of Riquewihr, Famille Hugel has been crafting exceptional Alsace wines since 1639. Their Riesling Vendange Tardive represents the pinnacle of late-harvest winemaking, a category that Jean 'Johnny' Hugel personally championed and helped codify into Alsatian wine law in 1983. Sourced primarily from the steep, clay-limestone slopes of the historic Schoenenbourg Grand Cru, these grapes are harvested weeks after the main crop, often touched by the magical hand of botrytis (noble rot). The wine is fermented slowly in traditional large oak foudres, resulting in a masterpiece of tension: an intense, concentrated nectar balanced by the piercing, crystalline acidity characteristic of noble Riesling.
🍾 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.