Wine & Spirits - Winter 2020 - 43

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Top 100 Wineries

Forstreiter

Trimbach

AUSTRIA | KREMSTAL
In addition to his outstanding grüner veltliners, Meinhard
Forstreiter surprised us with an exceptional pinot noir this year.

FRANCE | ALSACE
Closing in on four centuries of winemaking, the Trimbach family
produces deﬁnitive Alsace wines.

MEINHARD
FORSTREITER

HOLLENBURG SITS ON THE SOUTH SIDE of the Danube, where alluvial stones were compressed
into lime-rich soils during the Ice Age, creating
what's referred to as Hollenburger Konglomerat.
The area is known for growing especially ripe,
spicy grüner veltliner, the specialty at Forstreiter. Since taking over the family winery in 2001,
Meinhard Forstreiter has worked to highlight
particular parcels within the region, such as Ried
Tabor, a sandy site that boasts veltliner vines
dating to 1872, and Schiefer, a high, steep slope
looming over the Danube that consistently produces one of his richest wines. Forstreiter, however, will tell you that he simply makes wines he
likes to drink-which explains Grooner, a brisk,
peppery, easy-drinking grüner veltliner he developed in partnership with his US importer, as well
as the pinot noir that stole the show this year:
While he makes only about 100 cases, culled
from his own vines and those of friends, it's well
worth seeking out-not only for its sultry, foresty ﬂavors, but also for the sense of generosity
that marks all of Forstreiter's wines. -T.Q.T.

2016 Niederösterreich Reserve Pinot Noir ($24,
95 points) In the cool, damp 2016 vintage, Forstreiter's pinot noir came out gloriously spicy, smelling like
a forest after a rain, with translucent dried-cherry ﬂavors. Aged for a year in barriques (half new) and several more in bottle, it feels mature and elegant, with a
restrained, beefy richness.

PIERRE
TRIMBACH

FOUNDED:

1626
FOUNDED:

1868
OWNER/
WINEMAKER/
VITICULTURIST:

Meinhard
Forstreiter
ACRES OWNED:

130

2017 Kremstal Ried Schiefer Reserve Grüner
Veltliner ($23, 93 points) Forstreiter's 130 acres
of vines include parcels in Kremstal's most hallowed
sites, such as Schiefer, a vineyard documented as far
back as 1318. It takes its name from the hill it clings
to, called Schiffberg, a high outcropping with a clear
view to the ships (schiffe) on the Danube. The warm,
protected site produced a rich, elegant wine in 2017,
a gentle robe of honey wrapping around zesty notes
of grapefruit and herbs.

50,000 cases
ESTATE GROWN:

97%
IMPORTER:

Monika Caha
Selections/
Frederick Wildman & Sons, NY

The Trimbach
family
WINEMAKER:

Pierre Trimbach
VITICULTURISTS:

Laurent
Murschel, Pierre
Trimbach

2018 Kremstal Ried Kremser Kögl Grüner Veltliner ($17, 90 points) Kögl is a series of terraces
rising up the slope from the Hollenburg, away from
the Danube. Here the conglomerate stone is covered with loess up to 30 feet deep. The combination
makes for some of the region's ﬁnest grüner veltliners, like this 2018, bright, crisp ﬂavors of snap peas
and pink grapefruit bringing energy to veltliner's
savory breadth.

2014 Alsace Clos Sainte Hune Riesling ($400, 94
points) Clos Sainte Hune, a 4.12-acre parcel in the
Rosacker grand cru with vines averaging 50 years of
age, has been tended by the Trimbachs for more than
200 years. It produces Trimbach's most famous wine,
limited to about 8,000 bottles each vintage. Riesling
shines in the muschelkalk (fossil-ﬂecked limestone
soils), and the cool growing season of 2014 produced
a powerful, precise wine. Its bright, arresting ﬂavors
of white cranberry and lemon pith ride over a chalky
minerality. At six years old, it still shows a youthful
reticence, and will continue to develop for years.
2014 Alsace Réserve Personnelle Pinot Gris
($47, 94 points) A selection of Trimbach's parcels,
including fruit from the grand cru Osterberg, this
shows an intensity of bright yellow fruit that indicates
it has a long life ahead. Juicy apple-and-lemon intensity suffuse the wine as it lasts with a deep savor.

ACRES OWNED:

143

ANNUAL
PRODUCTION:

OWNERS:

MAISON TRIMBACH, FOUNDED IN 1626, is now
under the management of the twelfth and thirteenth generations. The family tends 143 acres
of vines, the parcels spread throughout six villages in the northern end of the Haut-Rhin
where the majority of the region's grand cru
vineyards can be found-although the Trimbachs have farmed these crus for so long they
preferred to label them under the family's traditional name until recently. Their hesitation
was tempered after the AOC made the farming
requirements stricter, and they now bottle three
labeled grand crus. Still, you'll ﬁnd no mention
of the grand cru Rosacker on the label of Clos
Sainte Hune, which is possibly the most coveted
vineyard in Alsace. Pierre Trimbach has been
making the family's wine since 1979; his son
Julien joined him in the winery ﬁve vintages ago.
On the path to organic certiﬁcation, the Trimbachs have begun trials grazing sheep between
the rows; their ﬂock has already ballooned to
eight ovine animals. It's common for Trimbach's
wines to spend years in the cellar before hitting
the market, released only when the family thinks
they're ready. -C.W.

ANNUAL
PRODUCTION:

83,333 cases
ESTATE GROWN:

N/A
IMPORTER:

Taub Family
Selections, Boca
Raton, FL

2011 Alsace Cuvée Frédéric Emile Riesling ($95,
93 points) Named after Frédéric Emile Trimbach, the
man credited with bringing Trimbach's wines to an
international audience at the end of the 19th century,
this is a selection of parcels in both the Geisberg and
Osterberg grand crus. At nine years of age, the wine
is reticent at ﬁrst, with nuanced herbal notes hiding
behind ﬂavors of white nectarine, bay leaf and anise
mingling with star fruit. The wine transitions from fruit
and mineral ﬂavors as smoothly as a sine wave.
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Wine & Spirits - Winter 2020

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