A gris to disagree

Hugel 1990 Pinot Gris “Vendange Tardive” (Alsace) – Thick and soupy. Spiced pear, of course, but little else of note. There’s nothing refreshing about this wine, which is rather leaden up front, then thins, then re-hefts for a big, dull finish. (4/08)

Hu's there?

Hugel 2005 Gewurztraminer (Alsace) – Thin and dusty, with a little bit of fragrant, spicy character but a lot of emptiness that it doesn’t even come close to filling. It has the virtue of being dry, but that’s about it (3/08)

Johnnycakes

Hugel 1997 Gewurztraminer “Hommage à Jean Hugel” (Alsace) – 375 ml. Very, very sweet, with a dark, quartz-like cylinder of metal surrounding…well, not a whole lot. The interior of the wine is wan and diffuse. Where’s the beef? Or, since it’s gewürztraminer, the pork? This wine promises a lot, but it just doesn’t deliver like it should. (12/07)

See Hugel

Hugel 2004 Gewurztraminer (Alsace) – Done up in the classic Hugel style: dry (to the palate; there may be some analyzable residual sugar) with plenty of acidity and a restrained, elegant character. This restraint doesn’t always serve Hugel well in these days of critic-pleasing excess, and then some years Hugel gets it profoundly wrong, producing something wan rather than elegant. But when it all works (as it does here), it’s a firm commitment to tradition over modishness. There’s still plenty of tradition to be found in Alsace, but not much of it is exported in these quantities. Grab it before it disappears forever. (8/07)