Humbrecht picked (in both senses of the word) his 2005 Riesling Brand to be Vendange Tardive, and even as it neared its first birthday and was still fermenting, he confidently ordered labels for a wine that in the end was not to be. In unprecedented extra-innings which he says “l(fā)eft me speechless,” the yeasts rallied and took Humbrecht’s “Vendange Tardive” all the way down to seven grams of residual sugar (and up to 15.5% alcohol), delivering the dry finished wine for Christmas! “In retrospect,” he says, “I have no regrets” about not having intervened to stop the fermentation, and indeed this displays exceptional balance and expressivity. An almost Rangen-like smoky note along with yellow plum, peach, almond extract and positively heady musky florality in the nose set the stage for a voluminous, rich, nutty, plummy, spicy palate, with fine acidity lending a surprising degree of vivacity, although the saline, pit-fruited, floral finish here also evinces considerable heat. I would bear in mind the potential for tinder when considering how much of this strikingly concentrated wine to cellar. Olivier Humbrecht compares his 2004s with 1992. These were the two most copious vintages of recent times, delivering truly dry wines with quite high acidity. Although he characterized 2004 as more precocious than 2005, Humbrecht kept harvesting through early November, insisting that this was only possible due to his stringent, biodynamic viticultural practices and consequent generally healthy fruit. Humbrecht insists too that he did not seek botrytis, as rain was rendering noble rot nearly impossible. But it certainly seems sometimes as if botrytis sought out him! One price for his protracted harvest was elevated alcohol, which some wines struck me as hard-pressed to gracefully support; and acid levels too occasionally reached extremes. Overall, in fact, I have never tasted such a wide rage of quality nor so many unusually distinctive and at times downright inscrutable wines at this address as those of 2004. Two thousand five, relates Humbrecht, brought ample botrytis, especially with Pinot Gris, but later ripeness, again with formidable acid and extract levels thanks to the cool, well-watered August. Nearly all of the Riesling musts fermented dry. Humbrecht considers it a classic vintage for (in most instances dry-tasting) Gewurztraminer. And despite the blanket of rot that descended on the Pinot Gris vineyards, a cold, virtually cloudless five day period permitted patient and rigorous selection of fruit. A tribute to the ripeness and high tartaric acidity of these 2005s is that although well more than half of his lots of Riesling and Pinot Gris underwent malolactic transformation, an experienced taster would be hard-pressed to identify which! “Had we had the challenging October of 2004 in 2005 as well,” he says, “most ‘04s would be better than the ‘05s.” But as things turned out – October 2005 having been the second warmest after 2001 in the last decade – Humbrecht believes that in the long run these two collections will prove well matched in overall quality.Importer: The Sorting Table, Napa, CA; tel. (415) 491-4724
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