ZIND HUMBRECHT PINOT GRIS CLOS WINDSBUHL 2024 - white

Style: Rocks & MineralsIf you were to ask any serious wine expert for his or her list of the top white wine estates in the world today, Alsace's Domaine Zind-Humbrecht would nearly always be among those included. Domaine Zind-Humbrecht is one of the world’s most famous white wine estates, producing a bevy of world-class bottlings that have very few peers in their respective categories. IAN D’AGATAI admire Olivier Humbrecht's unceasing quest for quality immensely and he has succeeded in making many luscious, intense and attention-grabbing wines. JANCIS ROBINSON MWEverything produced here from his highly sought after Grand Crus to his entry level Pinot Blanc is top shelf and all are given the same attention and care and each demonstrates the hand of a master at work. ROSCOEThe 2024 Pinot Gris Clos Windsbuhl is tender and restrained on the nose, showing supple citrus with an edge of lovely, tart pear. The palate is utterly strait-laced, clean-cut, bright, lemony and vivid, not at all like your usual Pinot Gris but much more linear, zestier and straighter. The finish is a wonderfully pure tone of lemon. (Bone-dry) ANNE KREBIEHL MWIn 1759, the new owner of Windsbuhl that year, the Württemberg family, who had succeeded the French royal family, wrote that "Tokayer was particularly well-suited to this terroir". More than two centuries later, we can confirm that the Pinot-Gris grape variety, formerly known as Tokayer in Alsace, finds a perfect home on the steep slopes of the Windsbuhl. The combination of a late-ripening climate and a mineral-rich soil (Dolomitic limestones) produces a wine of great distinction. This grape variety can produce heavy, weighty wines in Alsace when harvested overripe and lacking acidity, or light, simple wines if grown in a less interesting terroir. On Windsbuhl, Pinot Gris truly comes into its own, both dry and sweet, although the latter is becoming increasingly rare. In the cellar, this wine remains one of the most challenging: it refuses to ferment, stopping, restarting, taking its time… which is, of course, a risk. It is therefore a wine that requires constant monitoring, and starter cultures must be kept on hand to restart fermentation and bring it to ferment all sugars. Why dry? Because, without noble rot, its "rock water" character, or mineral purity, is best expressed in a dry style. DOMAINE ZIND-HUMBRECHTRegion: Alsace, FRANCEVariety: Piniot GrisABV: 12.5%Liquor Act 2007. It is against the law to sell or supply alcohol to, or to obtain alcohol on behalf of a person under the age of 18 years. Lic No. LIQP770016424 *We endeavour to ensure the correct vintage is displayed, however some variations may occur in store and for delivered bottles.