Domaine Zind-Humbrecht is a

winery A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, ...

located in

Turckheim Turckheim (; Alsatian: Tercka; ) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It lies west of Colmar, on the eastern slopes of the Vosges mountains. History Archeological finds indicate the area was already ...

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The domaine was created in 1959, following the marriage of Léonard Humbrecht to Geneviève Zind. The Humbrecht family has a history of winegrowing since 1620.Wine Anorak: The wines of Domaine Zind-Humbrecht, Alsace
accessed on June 28, 2009 The domaine is currently mostly managed by Léonard's son Olivier Humbrecht, who was the first Frenchman to qualify as

Master of Wine Master of Wine (MW) is a qualification (not an academic degree) issued by The Institute of Masters of Wine in the United Kingdom. The MW qualification is generally regarded in the wine industry as one of the highest standards of professional knowle ...

Vineyards

As a ''domaine'', Zind-Humbrecht only produces wines from its own vineyards. The total vineyard holdings of around include: *

Grand Cru Cru is a wine term used to indicate a high-quality vineyard or group of vineyards. It is a French word which is traditionally translated as "growth", as is the past participle of the verb "croître" (to grow); it literally means 'grown'. The ...

vineyards: ** Rangen (in Thann), ** Brand (in Turckheim), ** Hengst (in

Wintzenheim Wintzenheim (; ) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin ''département'' in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Wintzenheimois''. Geography Wintzenheim is a town of 7,853 inhabitants (2019)Gueberschwihr Gueberschwihr (; gsw, Gawerschwihr; german: Geberschweier) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. File:Gueberschwihr 042.JPG, Town hall File:Gueberschwihr 007.JPG, Church See also *Communes of the Ha ...

), * Other vineyards: ** Rotenberg (in Wintzenheim), ** Clos Häuserer (in Wintzenheim), ** Herrenweg (in Turkheim), ** Clos Jebsal (in Turkheim), ** Heimbourg (in Turkheim), ** Clos Windsbuhl (in

Hunawihr Hunawihr (; german: Hunaweier) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. The village is a member of the ''Les Plus Beaux Villages de France'' ("The most beautiful villages of France") association. See also ...

), Zind-Humbrecht typically bottles also most of the wines from the non-Grand Cru vineyards under their ''

lieu dit ''Lieu-dit'' (; plural: ''lieux-dits'') (literally ''said-location'') is a French toponymic term for a small geographical area bearing a traditional name. The name usually refers to some characteristic of the place, its former use, a past event, e ...

'' designation (vineyard name), rather than as Alsace wine with just a varietal designation.

Wine style

Domaine Zind-Humbrecht took a pioneering role in producing Alsace wines in concentrated, fruity style using low yields (around 30-40 hectoliter per hectare) and biodynamic viticulture. Some of these wines did have considerable

residual sugar The subjective sweetness of a wine is determined by the interaction of several factors, including the amount of sugar in the wine, but also the relative levels of alcohol, acids, and tannins. Sugars and alcohol enhance a wine's sweetness, whil ...

(without being intended as

dessert wine Dessert wines, sometimes called pudding wines in the United Kingdom, are sweet wines typically served with dessert. There is no simple definition of a dessert wine. In the UK, a dessert wine is considered to be any sweet wine drunk with a meal ...

s), which at that time was unusual for Alsace wines. The level of residual sugar in Zind-Humbrecht wines may vary considerably between vintages, and acceptance of such variations is part of the biodynamic philosophy. In order to guide the consumer to what they may expect inside the bottle, Zind-Humbrecht introduced a sweetness index on the labels of their bottles from the 2001 vintage. This index is a number from 1 to 5, which is found in fine print as "Indice 1" to "Indice 5" on the label, typically next to the alcoholic content. The index is assigned based on an overall impression of the wine, and has the following meaning:Oenoalsace: Information by Zind-Humbrecht about wines from the 2005 vintage
/ref> * Indice 1: analytically dry or tasting dry. (This would correspond to the "classical Alsace style".) * Indice 2: not analytically dry, but the sweetness is not apparent on the palate * Indice 3: a semi-sweet wine * Indice 4: a sweet wine; these wines may correspond to Vendange Tardive wines from many other producers. * Indice 5: high sweetness, corresponding to a Vendange Tardive in richness but with less

noble rot Noble rot (french: pourriture noble; german: Edelfäule; it, Muffa nobile; hu, Aszúsodás) is the beneficial form of a grey fungus, ''Botrytis cinerea'', affecting wine grapes. Infestation by ''Botrytis'' requires moist conditions. If the we ...

character. These will be wines which Zind-Humbrecht could have bottled as Vendange Tardive, but have elected not to because of their style.

References

External links

The site of Domaine Zind-Humbrecht
, accessed on Dec 23, 2016. {{Coord, 48.0838, 7.2957, display=title Wineries of France Alsace wine 1959 establishments in France