Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile 2019

This wine is named for Frédéric Emile Trimbach who became famous for providing a new guarantee of quality and authenticity for Trimbach in 1898. The south and south-east facing Ribeauvillé Grand Crus of Geisberg and Osterberg have been producing this wine for several generations. The average age of the vines, 45 years, results in limited yields.

’The 2019 Riesling Frédéric Emile is precise and savory on the nose, blending the ripe and intense fruit of the Geisberg with a rather coolish and purely mineral or rocky tone of the Osterberg (?) that is reminiscent of melting salts. Tight and with lots of tannins on the palate, this is a full-bodied, highly energetic and vivacious Riesling with a long and tensioned as well as complex finish that pairs the ripe and dense fruit with structural elements to create something new and impressive. It's very long and saline yet still too tight to be opened today. 14.1% stated alcohol. Tasted at Trimbach in November 2024.’ 96 points, Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate, February 2025.

‘This great dry Alsace riesling has hugely generous, irresistible aromas of fresh and candied citrus fruit, together with white and yellow peaches. Very chalky and concentrated on the medium- to full-bodied palate. The very long, deeply structured finish makes it plain that this masterpiece is just beginning to give its best! From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold.’ 97 points, Stuart Pigott, JS Wine Ratings, December 2024.

'Trimbach is at the summit of dry white winemaking.'
Clive Coates M.W.

'Clos St Hune, the Alsace Riesling by which all others are judged.'
Andrew Jefford.

With viticultural origins going back to 1626 this family owned estate produces some of the finest wines not only of Alsace, but indeed the entire world of wine. Around the villages of Ribeauvillé and Hunawihr, the Trimbach family owns 27 hectares of vineyards including 1.67ha of Rosacker Grand cru (which produces the highly famed Clos Sainte Hune Riesling) as well as parcels of Geisberg and Osterberg (blended to make the equally renowned Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile). Geisberg and Osterberg are located on the hill rising up behind the ‘new’ family winery on the edge of Ribeauvillé. The family moved from their ‘old’ winery in Hunawihr in the 1890’s! Indeed, the label of Clos Sainte Hune depicts the view to the local church from the old winery in Hunawihr.

According to Jean Trimbach, the house style is aiming for ‘harmonious wines that are concentrated, not heavy; fruity, not sweet; bracing rather than fat; polite rather than voluptuous.’ To that end, fermentations are cool and slow, maloloactic fermentation is not carried out and the wines are bottled early to retain freshness.

The dry Rieslings are usually made with less than 5g/l of residual sugar, whereas the dry Gewürztraminers might carry up to 10g/l. The wines are then aged in the cellar for at least one year; up to 5 years or more for the top wines. Even the richer Vendanges Tardive and Selection de Grains Nobles wines are made with more restraint than is usual in Alsace more generally: VT Rieslings typically carry 15-40g/l; VT Gewürztraminer around 50-75g/l; and SGN typically from 100g/l.