2008 Trimbach Gewurztraminer SGN Hors Choix, Alsace

The intensely golden-yellow 2008 Gewurztraminer Sélection de Grains Nobles 'Hors Choix' opens with a fascinatingly pure, fresh, precise and concentrated, exotic and elegant nose. It has perfectly ripe peach, buttercup, ginger and lime-zest flavors intermixed with spicy and peppery aromas. Full-bodied, round and highly delicate on the palate, this is a concentrated, firmly structured, fresh and complex sweet wine with fine tannins and a long, fresh and mineral finish. The 2008 'Hors Choix' was bottled with 13% alcohol and is a great, tension-filled and spicy gastronomic sweet wine with terrific grip and stimulating freshness. The 2008 drinks nicely today, but can be aged for decades.

97 points robertparker.com

Trimbach Gewurztraminer Sélection de Grains Nobles Hors Choix from Alsace is one of the rarest and most extraordinary sweet wines ever produced by this historic family estate. Made only in the most exceptional vintages when botrytis cinerea, the noble rot, develops perfectly, it represents the pinnacle of both the Gewurztraminer grape and the Trimbach philosophy of precision, purity, and longevity. Each Hors Choix bottling is an event — a wine of immense concentration, depth, and grace.

The fruit comes from select old-vine parcels near Ribeauvillé, where limestone and sandstone soils and ideal late-harvest conditions allow for the meticulous hand selection of individual botrytised berries. The juice is gently pressed and undergoes a slow, cool fermentation before being left to mature for several years prior to release. The result is a wine of astonishing richness balanced by vibrant acidity and mineral freshness.

In the glass it glows deep golden amber. The aroma is breathtaking — layers of honey, candied orange peel, lychee, saffron, and rose petal mingle with exotic spice and smoke. The palate is sumptuous yet beautifully balanced, offering luscious sweetness with flavours of apricot, quince, caramelised pear, and ginger, supported by crystalline acidity that gives lift and definition. The finish is endless, resonating with honeyed fruit and delicate spice.

It is an extraordinary pairing for foie gras, blue cheese, fruit tarts, or simply as a contemplative wine to be savoured on its own. Built for eternity, it will cellar effortlessly for fifty years or more, developing profound complexity and depth with age.