Hugel Riesling Schoelhammer 2012

Tight and introverted after a decade in bottle — smoke, dried lemon peel and a reluctant waxiness that only emerges with extended air. The palate tells a different story: smooth, concentrated, almost viscous, with a gripping lemon-pith focus that sets it apart from the more serene Grossi Laüe. This is a wine still coiled around itself, with real structural tension underneath. From an organically farmed parcel at the heart of Schoenenbourg, planted 1992 and bottled separately since 2007, it has the bones to reward serious patience.