Riesling Clos Windsbuhl, Domaine Zind-Humbrecht 2007

After waiting in vain for botrytis while he picked a range of V.T. and S.G.N. wines elsewhere, Humbrecht finally harvested a 2007 Riesling Clos Windsbuhl that fermented to one gram of sugar, yet still barely over 13% alcohol, confirming his observation that grape sugar levels hit a plateau this year, but not their flavor evolution! From cask, this was almost painfully raw and long shrouded in fermentative aromas (it was never racked) but the outlines of what would emerge were already discernable of a wine on which opinions will vary, one of extraordinary brightness and density, austere, yet delivering corpse-quickening invigoration. Fresh ginger, mint, tart pineapple, and distilled yellow plum on the nose join with practically searing lemon and grapefruit citricity and correspondingly pungent zest. Marine salinity and vivid chalkiness utterly saturate the palate all the way through a long, penetrating finish. This taut, dense, brash, backward wine is I believe a classic such as would have been more easily recognized 20 or more years ago. Taste it soon, just for the record, then wait a decade and follow it for its second decade. If this gains more nuance it could prove to be an extraordinary exponent of its site, and as an experiment it is both intriguing and delicious.