Four of the finest Gewurztraminers of the vintage are the 1995 Hengst, 1995 Clos Windsbuhl, 1995 Heimbourg, and 1995 Rangen Clos St.-Urbain. The 1995 Gewurztraminer Heimbourg offers a spicy, sweet nose, full body, and copious amounts of concentrated, powerful fruit flavors, but not much complexity or Gewurztraminer's tell-tale characteristics. The wine is hugely extracted, but it lacks equilibrium and focus, normally a hallmark of a ZH wine. I would opt for drinking this slightly disjointed, but impressively large-scaled Gewurztraminer over the next 5-7 years. After tasting through all the top Alsatian estates, it was obvious that Gewurztraminer was less consistent than Pinot Gris or Riesling. As several producers told me, the uneven crop set, which seemed to afflict Gewurztraminer more than other varietals, led to a smaller production, as well as uneven ripening. As Olivier Humbrecht stated, he had to be extremely careful with Gewurztraminer because it is a varietal that requires a considerable amount of heat to reach physiological ripeness, and September was an extremely cold month in Alsace. Many producers picked too early, fearing the grapes would rot. As it turned out, October was a splendid month weather-wise, and those who waited produced better Gewurztraminer. Nevertheless, I did not taste any profoundly great 1995 Gewurztraminer equaling the quality of the top 1994s, 1990s, or 1989s.The Zind-Humbrecht 1995s possess approximately 10% higher acidity than the crisp, high acid 1994s, largely because September was a very cool month. There was no need to chaptalize any of the ZH wines, and extremely long fermentations resulted in high alcohol.The reviews in this segment are from a memorable tasting held in April, 1997.Importers: Wine Markets International, Woodbury, NY; tel. (516) 364-1850, and Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel (510) 524-1524
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