(Manfred Klimek / Claude Auguste – wines / animated pic: runwayml)
The history of Alsace begins with a misunderstanding. Or, more precisely, with many misunderstandings. For centuries, Germans and French fought over this narrow strip between the Vosges and the Rhine. At times it was German, at times French, then German again and finally French once more. Anyone travelling through Ribeauvillé, Riquewihr or Colmar today immediately understands why both sides believed they had a claim to this landscape. Half-timbered houses like those along the Upper Rhine, the French art of living, German place names, French street cafés, German grape varieties, French cuisine. Alsace was never entirely one or the other. And never entirely the other. Today it belongs to France. And since Europe opened its borders, it seems that for the first time nobody has a problem with that anymore.
Winegrowing here is older than all of Europe's nation states: the Romans, who else, planted vines along the Vosges. Later came monasteries, aristocratic families and merchants. Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc continue to define the region, along with a small proportion of Pinot Noir – the same varieties that grow a few kilometres further east in Baden or the Palatinate. And yet they taste different. Alsace has its own tonal character. More drive, more spice, more texture. Less fruit show, more sense of place.
At the heart of this history stands Domaine Trimbach.
Hardly any name is as closely associated with Alsace internationally as Trimbach. Wine has been produced here since 1626. Generation after generation. In a wine world that is constantly reinventing itself, Trimbach has achieved something remarkable: the estate has remained recognisable. While other producers modernised their labels, redrew their logos and devised brand strategies, the classic Trimbach labels remained almost unchanged. Anyone who sees a bottle today recognises it immediately. Only the more recent Grand Cru bottlings now feature somewhat more modern designs. The rest seems pleasingly immune to fashion.
Yet this sense of tradition must not be confused with backwardness.
In the cellar, Trimbach has always been among the producers that quickly understood and sensibly integrated technical developments. Precision instead of romance. Cleanliness instead of dogma. The result is wines that never seem old-fashioned, even though they are deeply rooted in tradition. The three Réserve wines demonstrate this particularly impressively.
Riesling Réserve, Pinot Gris Réserve and Gewürztraminer Réserve are among the most successful introductions to the world of Alsace altogether. In many regions, the word Reserve raises expectations of weight, concentration and lengthy ageing in the cellar. In Alsace, it has often also meant wines that initially hide behind their own structure. Trimbach takes a different approach with its Reserve wines, because these wines possess both a sense of place and substance, while also offering an accessibility that is essential for young wine drinkers today. The Riesling Réserve combines the dry precision for which Trimbach is famous with remarkable drinkability. The Gewürztraminer Réserve presents spice as elegance and exoticism, without slipping into perfume or banality. And the Pinot Gris Réserve demonstrates impressively how much tension this variety can develop when it is not reduced merely to body. At the prices asked, these wines have long been at a level that could easily be compared in Germany with many Erste Lagen. That is precisely their strength. They do not cost the earth. But they often taste world-class.
It becomes even more impressive with the Réserve Personnelle Pinot Gris. Pinot Gris is a grape variety that has developed an astonishing talent worldwide for producing mediocrity. Hardly any other variety is so often made into something inconsequential. A little fruit, some creaminess, little to remember.
Trimbach achieves the opposite.
The Réserve Personnelle possesses drive, length and persistence. Not harmlessness, but energy. The wine lingers across the palate for minutes, developing spice, structure and an almost salty tension alongside the residual sweetness that has accompanied this wine for decades. Everything seems precisely constructed. For me, this is one of the greatest Pinot Gris in the world – and at the same time one of the most affordable great sweet white wines of all. A wine that impressively proves the potential contained in this often underrated variety. When a winemaking family subjects the variety to the culture of the estate.
And then there is the Cuvée Frédéric Emile. In Alsace, it is usually enough simply to say the name. Hardly any further explanation is needed. For decades, it has been regarded as the estate's icon. Grown on the historic Geisberg and Osterberg sites in Ribeauvillé, it produces a Riesling of impressive depth and ageing potential. While many top Rieslings today aim for immediate impact, Frédéric Emile develops its greatness slowly. With patience. With maturity. With that inner tension capable of carrying great Rieslings for decades.
One may argue about which Riesling from France is the greatest. For me, that discussion usually ends with Frédéric Emile.