Last week I was fortunate enough to attend a dinner at Turner’s Restaurant, Harbourne, Birmingham, held by The Pershore Wine Society, of which I am a member. The dinner was a prepared by Chef Richard Turner, and wines were selected by Connolly’s of Birmingham. These dinners are a wonderful opportunity to try many different types of wine outside your normal range and this evening was no exception. One match was a marriage made in heaven – the wine was superb. It was matched with a Terrine of Smoked Ham Hock and Fois Gras served with pickled Beetroot and Sour Dough Toast. The wine was an unusual choice to go with such a variety of flavors, a Pinot Gris from Alsace, Hugel’s ‘Tradition’ 2005.

The 2005 vintage was described by Hugel on their website as follows “Everything indicates that 2005 will be a great vintage. Grapes were healthy and ripe, balanced by excellent acidity. The wines confirm our early optimism, showing great aromatic purity and class on a par with the finest vintages.” I have to say that their optimism was well founded!

Some of the grapes for the ‘Tradition’ range are purchased from growers under long–term contract to Hugel, the rest coming from their own estate. After pressing the must is decanted and left for a few hours before being fermented in temperature controlled barrels at around 18º - 24ºC. The wine is racked once, undergoing natural clarification during the cooler winter. In the spring the wine is lightly filtered before bottling and aging.

The resulting wine was a pale yellow color which had great depth and was most attractive to the eye. The first impression of » Continue Reading