Tokay Pinot Gris Vendanges Tardives
⏳ Drinking Window
Typically best enjoyed 10 to 30 years from the vintage release.
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Pan-seared foie gras, Roquefort or other intense blue cheeses, rich pear or apricot tarts
✨ Technical Specifications
Historically known as Tokay Pinot Gris before international naming agreements, this legendary late-harvest sweet wine is a monument to Alsatian winemaking. The Hugel family famously pioneered the strict legal guidelines for the Vendanges Tardives designation in 1984. Sourced from the steep, clay-limestone slopes surrounding the medieval village of Riquewihr, the grapes are harvested only in exceptional years when overripeness and noble rot (Botrytis cinerea) develop. According to local folklore, the grape was originally brought to Alsace by General Lazare de Schwendi after his campaigns in Hungary, though it was later identified as Pinot Gris. The wine is fermented slowly and aged in historic, century-old oak foudres, resulting in a rich, complex masterpiece of honeyed stone fruits, smoke, and vibrant acidity.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 1639 in the picturesque medieval village of Riquewihr, Famille Hugel is one of the most venerable and celebrated wine producers in Alsace, France. Managed continuously by more than a dozen generations of the Hugel family, the estate combines historic family vineyards with carefully sourced fruit to champion the diverse terroirs of the region. Hugel was instrumental in establishing the official regulations for Alsace's revered late-harvest categories, Vendanges Tardives and Sélection de Grains Nobles. Renowned globally for their purity, elegance, and ageability, the winery crafts benchmark dry and sweet expressions of noble Alsace varieties, particularly Riesling, Gewurztraminer, and Pinot Gris, vinified traditionally in century-old oak foudres.
🍇 Grape Varieties
Pinot Gris
🍷 Alcohol By Volume (ABV)
12% - 13.5%