Technical presentation
| Bottling : | September 2002 |
|---|---|
| Acquired alcohol : | 12.6 ° |
| Residual sugar : | 12 g/l |
| Total acidity : | 4.2 g/l H2SO4 (6.4 g/l Acide Tartrique) |
| pH : | 3.3 |
| Yield : | 35 hl/ha |
| Average age of vines : | 39 years |
| Terroir : | Grand Cru Rangen de Thann Clos Saint Urbain |
| Sweetness index : | 2 |
| Soil : | Sedimentary volcanic rocks, South facing, Very steep slope |
Description of the wine Riesling Grand Cru Rangen de Thann Clos St Urbain 2001
Riesling is a grape variety which has thicker skins than the pinot-gris. This might explain why it has a greater botrytis resistance and also why the pinot-gris was heavily botrytised in 2001 and the Riesling harvested perfectly healthy. We took only the oldest vines (planted in 1963) to produce this wine. The fermentation, at the opposite of all the other Rieslings, was much faster (3 months) but was able to finish completely dry, keeping some small amount of residual sweetness.
Tasting notes
01/2003 : The volcanic soil gives strong peaty, smoky or even flinty character to the wines of the Rangen. The Riesling is capable of keeping in 2001 all its elegance and delicacy. The nose is typical, strongly mineral, almost austere. The palate is refined and elegant, and doesn’t show the powerful structure often obtained in the warm vintages where the botrytis can be important. The finish develops strong minerality, the classic Rangen bitterness and ripe acidity, which balances the residual sweetness.
The Clos Saint Urbain, Grand Cru Rangen from Thann
The Rangen de Thann is the most southerly of the Alsace vineyards. In his book « Where Alsace wines ripen », Henry Riegert writes: « from the Middle Ages those wines which ripen on the Rangen hillside figure amongst the most famous growths of the whole vineyard region ». The Grand Cru Rangen de Thann, is situated at the exit of the valley, overlooking the village of Thann with the river Thur passing at the foot of the slope.