Alsace and the Trimbach family. Dry Riesling made to last.

One of the driest corners of France

Alsace lies in the rain shadow of the Vosges mountains, making it one of the driest parts of France. Long, sunny autumns let grapes hang on the vine without much risk of rot, which gives the wines their vibrancy and aromatic intensity.

The region's history is unusual. It changed hands between France and Germany more than once, which explains its German street names and Germanic look. Unlike most French appellations, Alsace puts the grape variety on the label, and every wine must be bottled in the tall flute bottle.

Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris

Gewurztraminer is perhaps the most aromatic grape of all, with lychee, tropical fruit, flowers and a gingery spice, often in an off-dry, oily style. Pinot Gris is spicy and exotic too, but with more structure and acidity. Riesling is the most transparent: high in acidity, focused and stony, it reflects its soil more clearly than any other variety in Alsace.

And the soils vary enormously. The family speaks of some 800 different terroirs: granite, sandstone, limestone, marl, clay and shell-rich Muschelkalk, often changing every hundred meters across geological faults. It has been called a geologist's dream.

Thirteen generations of Trimbach

The family came from a Swiss village called Trimbach and opened their winery in Alsace in 1626. Thirteen generations later, Pierre Trimbach makes the wines. He has worked in the cellar since boyhood, crawling into casks only a child could fit through, and during harvest no lot of grapes gets past him unchecked. His daughter Anne brings energy to the sales side, and his nephew Julien, who announced at a family dinner that he wanted to be a winemaker like his uncle, is learning the craft from vineyard to cellar.

The Trimbach style is dry, lean and structured, never chasing the riper, sweeter wines that became fashionable in Alsace in the 1990s and 2000s. Even the entry-level wines are made with care.

Clos Sainte Hune and Frédéric Emile

The house's most famous wine is Clos Sainte Hune, a 1.67-hectare plot of limestone within the Grand Cru Rosacker in Hunawihr. Its label predates the Alsace grand cru system, so the words "Grand Cru" do not appear. In a good year only about 8,000 bottles are made. Tim Atkin MW also counts the Cuvée Frédéric Emile Riesling among the great Rieslings of the world.

Global warming is changing things here too. Pierre recalls that when he started, his Riesling was harvested at a potential alcohol of 11.5%, while today it can reach 13% or even 14% in some years. Keeping the wines dry, fresh and balanced is now part of the craft, and the family follows ripeness closely, sampling 100 to 200 berries per plot before deciding when to pick.

Trimbach holds back its top wines for at least five or six years before release, keeping some three million bottles in its cellars. Great Alsace Riesling, the family says, can last for decades.

How sweet is it, and what to eat with it

The biggest puzzle for drinkers is sweetness. Apart from Vendange Tardive and Sélection de Grains Nobles, the label rarely tells you how dry a wine is. Hear the hosts' tip about Protestant and Catholic families, and their call for clearer labeling. For food, try Riesling with fish and seafood, dry Gewurztraminer with a spicy steak tartare, and Clos Sainte Hune with steamed dim sum. Find out why Jeannie Cho Lee MW thinks Gewurztraminer with spicy Asian food is usually the wrong answer, and where it does work.

Go furtherWant to taste along? Find Trimbach’s wines and where to buy them near you on Wine-Searcher.