Domaine Zind-Humbrecht, Single Vineyard Riesling 'Clos Windsbuhl', 2024
Domaine Zind-Humbrecht, Single Vineyard Riesling 'Clos Windsbuhl', 2024
- 75cl
- 12.4%
- White Still
- Riesling
- Organic
- Biodynamic
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Optimal drinking window: 2028 - 2060
Olivier Humbrecht MW makes some of Alsace's most compelling Rieslings, and Clos Windsbuhl represents the very essence of what volcanic terroir can achieve. This enclosed vineyard sits on ancient volcanic sediment that imparts a distinctive smoky minerality you simply won't find elsewhere in Alsace.
The 2024 shows Zind-Humbrecht's trademark precision: bone-dry, intensely mineral, with white peach and citrus riding on a backbone of volcanic stone. This wants a few years to fully integrate its considerable energy, but the wait will be richly rewarded. Drinking beautifully from 2027 until 2044.
What the critics say:
"The 2024 Riesling Clos Windsbuhl hails from a secluded site on Triassic limestone. Slight flintiness on the nose leads to a palate that combines aromatic tangerine zest with tender but ripe pale peach. Everything about this is deeply cooling, deeply soothing, wonderfully heightened and so lithe, yet so concentrated and definite. This is superb and touching, the purity simply floors you. (Bone-dry)"
Clos Windsbuhl is a south-facing enclosed vineyard sitting at 280-300 metres altitude on ancient volcanic sediment mixed with sandstone. This unique geology imparts a distinctive smoky minerality that sets these wines apart from anything else in Alsace. The volcanic soils retain heat during the day and release it slowly at night, creating ideal ripening conditions whilst preserving the variety's natural acidity. The combination of altitude, exposure, and volcanic terroir creates wines of exceptional longevity and mineral complexity.
Alsace Grand Cru covers 51 designated vineyards across the region, each with distinct geological and microclimatic characteristics. While Clos Windsbuhl isn't technically Grand Cru status, it represents the same single-vineyard philosophy that makes Alsace unique in France. The region's Germanic influence means varietally pure wines rather than blends, with Riesling considered the noblest grape. Alsace's dry continental climate and diverse soils create wines of exceptional precision and longevity, quite different from their German cousins across the Rhine.
The 2024 vintage in Alsace delivered exactly what vignerons hoped for after a string of challenging years. Spring arrived gently without late frosts, summer brought enough warmth to ripen everything properly, and crucially, September stayed dry when it mattered most. We find ourselves with one of those vintages that reminds you why Alsace sits where it does, tucked against the Vosges mountains with just enough protection to let the grapes ripen slowly and completely.
What landed in the cellars shows remarkable purity and balance across the board. The Rieslings have that crystalline precision we love, with acidity that cuts like a laser but never shouts about it. Gewürztraminer managed to be expressive without turning into perfume, while Pinot Gris struck that perfect middle ground between richness and freshness that makes you reach for another glass. These wines are drinking beautifully now if you fancy them young and bright, but the best will reward patience until 2030 and beyond.
OUR GROWERS
Domaine Zind-Humbrecht
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