Hugel's 2014 Riesling Schoelhammer opens with a clear and remarkably fine and herbal bouquet that indicates perfectly ripe and concentrated fruit that is reminiscent of ripe mirabelles. On the palate, this is a rich and textural, very elegant and refined yet highly complex and long-lasting Schoenenbourg that combines power with incredible finesse. The finish is very long, stimulating and complex due to the remarkably fine saline acidity. This is a stellar Riesling from Alsace, and although I didn't taste it along with the great 2010, I dare say this is possibly the finest Schoelhammer Hugel has produced so far. 13.5% stated alcohol. Diam cork. Tasted at the domaine in April 2024. As always, the Hugel tasting with Jean Frédéric Hugel includes a range of vintages, with the 2022 being the youngest and the 2014, 2016 and sweet 2015 the oldest. The 2014 Schoelhammer from Schoenenbourg, which is not marketed as grand cru, is an outstanding Riesling from the vintage and even surpasses the estate's own still-very-superb grand cru Schoenenbourg, of which the 2014 and 2016 vintages are available for purchase. The 2016 Sporen is once again a great Gewürztraminer, and the generic Vendange Tardive also shows once more that Hugel is one of the best producers of this variety in Alsace. The same applies to the 2016 Pinot Gris, particularly from the Clos du Pflostig and the grand cru Sporen. Hugel is also contributing to the rapid upswing of the Alsace Pinot Noir, because the 2016(SR)

The 2014 Riesling Schoelhammer is from a single parcel in the heart of the midslope of the Schoenenbourg Grand Cru, with more clay than usual. Shyness on the nose allows a touch of waxiness and wet earth to shine through. Having just tasted the 2014 Grossi Laüe, also from the Schoenenbourg, the youthfulness of this is astonishing - especially since the Grossi Laüe is only just starting to open up. Here, the main notions are not chamomile but citrus, namely dried lemon peel. It has that same emollient, balm-like nature of the Schoenenbourg site but an inner density that is immense but channeled into the smoothest, calming, profound energy. The finish is long, chalky, creamy, lemony and so sustained. You need not be in a hurry to drink this at all. (Bone-Dry)(AK)