Pinot Gris Clos Windsbuhl, Domaine Zind-Humbrecht 2012

"The natural ripeness of the grapes made it impossible to avoid residual sweetness in 2012," says Olivier Humbrecht, who bottled the 2012 Pinot Gris Clos Windsbuhl with 13.1% alcohol and 36.5 grams of residual sugar in August 2013. From averaging 43-year-old vines on seashell limestone soils, this Windsbuhl shows a pale golden color and a deep, fresh, and complex though still discreet and mineral-flavored bouquet. Full and rich on the palate but salty, fresh and tension-full in the same moment, this very elegant, wide, and sweeping wine reveals a long and balanced finish with raspberry aromas in the aftertaste. This is surely a long-time runner for the next 20 years. Personally I like this pure and somewhat reduced style (as long as the tension is there), but I would be curious to see how this wine tastes after a day or a week from the open bottle.