Only Every 375 Years
2001 Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile 375th Anniversary
Exotic Richness, Aristocratic Poise,
Lowest Price in the Nation
A word to the wise: Heed Schildknecht’s words because this is a bottle of Riesling nipping at the heels of the simply awesome 2001 Clos Ste. Hune – and today it’s priced at $64.95: not only the lowest price in the nation, but also at about a 50% discount compared to its “rock star” big brother.
If there are Alsatian Rieslings as extravagant, as perfumed as the Trimbach 375th Anniversary, absolutely none have the juxtaposing discipline; none flaunt the hammer of acidity, the force and inevitability of a tidal wave.
Trimbach’s dry Rieslings are undoubtedly commanding in structure and yet, uniquely, they pack enough tension and cut to thrill even the most avid Mosel-Saar-Ruwer fanatic. (And I know - I have an entire staff of fanatics.)
 |
Andrew Jefford in The New France neatly lays out the "Trimbach Style" by quoting the Trimbach family itself, which boasts, "[We produce] harmonious wines that are concentrated, not heavy; fruity, not sweet; bracing rather than fat; polite rather than voluptuous. Trimbach wines are reserved, steely, elegant, even aristocratic; never obvious or flashy."
This is the siren call of Trimbach Riesling. And so even as the Cuvée Frédéric Emile and Clos Ste. Hune are always unflinchingly about minerality, about rocks, this 375th Anniversary also sees Trimbach at its most exotic. This wine turns up the intensity, the volume, the sex appeal of fruit and concentration, without losing any of that rock-and-roll minerality or fortress-like structure. Schildknecht’s note above, appropriately referential as it is, doesn’t seem to capture the exotic flair of this wine, the wild turn into pineapple, mango, guava – a spectrum of fruit that is pure, ripe, succulent, dripping with a perfumed sweetness… even while the Riesling itself is, without question, perfectly dry (in fact, the Trimbachs assert this has no residual sugar).
This wine was sourced from a special parcel of the Grand Cru Osterberg vineyard and was harvested later - in mid-October - than the normal “Freddy Emile.” As is the Trimbach way of ignoring all market pressure, the wine was released a shocking six years post-harvest. Bottle age without movement might explain some of the poise of this wine, some of its stunning integration. (Still, it is a young, young wine – look for this to endure and grow over the next two decades.)
This is a bottle Ian and I first encountered five months ago at Momofuku Ssam Bar; suffice it to say we have been talking about it ever since. We bought as much of this as we could, and Jean Trimbach has been exceedingly kind to us - yet this is still a small parcel, and at this price we expect demand to be high. All orders are subject to confirmation.
To order, email us at offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Robert Schagrin
Managing Partner
Crush Wine & Spirits
Cuvée Frédéric Emile 375th Anniversary
Special Email Price: $64.95
Lowest price in the nation
David Schildknecht, Wine Advocate: “The virtues of the 2001 Trimbach Rieslings will by now be well known to readers, but in another year or two they will release a 2001 Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile 375th Anniversary representing a small lot of late-picked Osterberg. Smelling of honey and herbal elixir, it offers a creamy texture, refined peach, honey and mint flavors, and a vivid sense of salt, chalk and wet stone minerality and will be one to enjoy over a twenty year period, as despite its elegance it is uncannily concentrated (and, incidentally, despite its richness perfectly dry).”
Trimbach is in stock!
NET | No further discount