One year of maturation estranged the golden-yellow color of the 2012 Riesling Grand Cru Rangen de Thann Clos St Urbain from the citrus-colored label, which opens as deep and rich as it is concentrated and mineral. The first contact with the flinty, lemon-fruity nose makes immediately clear that this is a great and expressive Riesling and, no doubt about this as well, one of the greatest white wines on planet wine. How intense and ripe it is, how deep and concentrated, how floral and matured, and how perfumed with the essence of volcanic rocks. Powerful, intense, compact and stony on the palate, this is a highly elegant, dense, stony, and expressive wine with an endless and highly complex finish. The essence of the Rangen? Close to perfection? At least one of the greatest European Rieslings I had from 2013. Who would have thought that in the autumn of 2012? The vineyard was hit by an intense hail storm in early August when 20 to 50% of the crop was destroyed. Oliver Humbrecht: "Fortunately, being very early in the season, the storm removed parts of clusters, and in some sectors the entire cluster, but did not affect the grapes left on the vine." "This vineyard had a hard time in 2012 and it was capable to fight back superbly, producing an emotional wine." Humbrecht assumes that the crop reduction "also explains the richness of this wine, which, amazingly, was able to ferment dry."
Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97+ RP
Fairly pale gold-tinged color. Captivating aromas of lemon custard, quince, brown spices, smoke and wet stone. Highly concentrated and on the dry side, with a powerful spice character contributing to an impression of power. Conveys a tactile sense of high dry extract and finishes with chewy tannins and lingering notes of bitter orange peel and lemon curd. This very deep, multilayered wine finishes with exceptional length. A serious step up in concentration from the 2012 Clos Windsbuhl, this is an especially powerful and ripe Rangen because the yields were even lower than usual as a result of hail in early July. An absolutel knockout.
Vinous Media | 95-97 VM
A wine where the Montrachet analogy sings out: the Riesling is rich and unctuous to smell, with bread and cream notes as well as the soft fruits and the hum of stone behind. The palate seems astonishingly dense, analogous to a weighty mineral paste, but alive and dancing not only with vivid fruit acids but also with the speckle of strange stone flavour. Not only magnificent in its own right, but the perfect wine to share, and perhaps to analyse, whenever debates surface about what ‘minerality’ might be in wine.
Decanter | 97 DEC
This is a grandiose wine from the most southerly of Alsace’s grands crus. It is rich, certainly, although in balance without any hint of excess. A complex structure powers the intense fruits and generous ripe yellow and citrus flavors. Concentrated from low yields and old vines, this wine needs to age many years. Don’t touch before 2020.
Wine Enthusiast | 96 WE
A bright, lip-smacking white, underscored by zesty minerality, this meshes a powerful structure of acidity and minerality with accessible flavors of peach skin, tangerine peel, plum, wet stone and ground ginger. The long finish resonates with hints of crystallized honey, smoke and stone. Drink now through 2029. 300 cases made, 50 cases imported.
Wine Spectator | 94 WS
The intense hailstorm that hit the Rangen vineyard in August of 2012 diminished the crop significantly. The remaining fruit produced an intensely concentrated wine that is dry and mineral driven. Lemon confit flavors give way to a wash of bright citrus, developing savory flavors of cheese rind on the finish. A flinty minerality holds it all together, but the wine is tightly wound and will benefit from a few years in the cellar.
Wine & Spirits Magazine | 91 W&S
