Is the cult Riesling Clos Ste Hune really that good? Does a 100-year-old dry white wine from Rioja that has not been fortified still taste good?
The Trimbach 1998 Clos Ste Hune Riesling is rightly a cult wine. With its bean wax notes and a cellar tone, it is initially similar to a white Rioja. With air, the cellar tone fades and the wine takes on herbs, a slight fruit sweetness, even more bean wax, lime and myrrh and it gets better and better. The wine then has medium to full body, medium to long finish and is spicy and with balanced acidity. The wine definitely needs to be decanted. 19/20 points.
The Federico Paternina Gran Reserva Blanco from the 1920s is absolutely perfect with vanilla, lots of coconut, hazelnut, some beet syrup, medium to full body and age sweetness. The wine is precise, clean, long, dense and complex. Apparently this is a perfect bottle. 20/20 points.