If proof needs be of climate change, 2022 is once again an earliest vintage in history in Alsace. But one not to rush into starting the picking. Once again winter was mild and budbreak as early as April 5th in Riquewihr, luckily making the episode of frost of April 3rd painless across most of the region. The hot conditions of May and June (26 to 32° all along) made for most of the earliness of the vintage with blooming May 23rd and especially drought conditions across all of France until harvest making for a very healthy crop. Acidity levels are low, and ripeness levels very high. Quality is extra across the board and the wines dense and concentrated. Hugel started picking 8 days after the rest of Alsace on September 12th and rightly did so, and finished in just over 3 weeks, a record speed. 2022 will be a benchmark vintage for Pinot Noirs especially.
The grapes are taken in small tubs to the presses, which are filled by gravity, without any pumping or other mechanical intervention. After pressing, the must is decanted for a few hours, then fermented in temperature-controlled vats (at 18 to 24°C). The wine is racked just once, before natural clarification during the course of the winter. The following spring, the wine is lightly filtered just before bottling, and the bottles are then aged in our cellars until released for sale. The whole production of this wine is closed with DIAM the cork without the risk of cork taint.
