Wine & Dine – August 2019

083

http://www.wnd.sg

FAMILLE HUGEL, CLASSIC

RIESLING 2015

Alsace, France

The family-run Hugel estate

is arguably Alsace’s most

recognisable wine producer. The

estate exports 90 percent of its

production to more than 100

countries, a marketing that move

that has done much for the Alsace

region as it has for the winery. If you

already love Alsatian wines, then

chances are Hugel introduced you

to the world of Alsace, and not the

other way around.

Hugel’s Classic Riesling remains

the estate’s flagship wine, simply

because it is a crowd pleaser, with

a friendly price point to match. The

2015 vintage was regarded as an

excellent year in Alsace, with a July

heatwave that was, fortunately,

tempered by a mid-August rainfall.

On the nose, the pale-yellow dry

wine smells of lime, kiwi, and thyme.

The structure is well-balanced;

a nice marriage between flinty

accents and green apple notes.

$55, from Monopole.

Tel: 6554 3680

DR LOOSEN, GRAACHER
HIMMELREICH, RIESLING
GG ALTE REBEN 2017
Mosel, Germany
Since taking over his family’s
vineyards in the mid-1980s, Ernst
Loosen has turned the estate into
one of the Mosel’s top Riesling
producers. The Mosel’s slate soils not
only lend minerality to the wines, they
also trap the sun’s heat during the
day and release it back to the vines at
night to encourage fruit ripeness.
The Graacher Himmelreich
Riesling Alte Reben is a single vineyard
ambrosia from a Grosses Gewächs
(Great Growth) plot of 100-year-old
vines. Aged for 12 months on the lees
in oak casks, the wine offers a gentle
bouquet of tropical fruit and flavours
of grapefruit, honey, biscuits, and
crushed stones. This is still a youthful
Riesling which can benefit from some
extra slumber in the cellar.
S$72, from 1855 The Bottle Shop.
Tel: 6251 1855

J.B BECKER, WALLUFER

WALKENBERG, RIESLING

SPATLESE TROCKEN 2011

Rheingau, Germany

Founded in 1893, J.B Becker has a

cult status in Rheingau, thanks in

part to its eccentric, moustachioed

winemaker, Hans-Josef Becker, who

took over the family winery in the

1971, and immediately decided to

focus on making dry instead of sweet

wines—a controversial move at the

time.

Becker’s Rieslings may catch

some people off guard: they can be

rich and restrained all at once, but

that’s part of the peculiar charm of

his wines. Our favourite sip has to

be the Wallufer Walkenberg Riesling

Spatlese Trocken: it offers a savoury

and minerally profile, with delicious

touches of citrus, mint, soya, and

stone fruit.

Price upon request, from Ares

Konsultant. Tel: 9889 5184