Hugel & Fils (in English)

Annual PFV event in Vancouver and Whistler,

2008-03-18T09:19:40Z

For its latest annual event, members of Primum Familiae Vini travelled to beautiful British Columbia for a series of events jointly organised by their local agents from March 8-11, 2008.

As in past years in other provinces of Canada, the local Liquor Board welcomed the visit with a promotion featuring some of the finest wines of the various producers.

Both trade and consumer tastings were held at the Four Seasons Vancouver which also hosted a most spectacular gala dinner orchestrated by its General Manager Mr Guy Rigby, a long time friend of PFV.
A tasting for selected members of the press was also held with two rare wines from each producer.
A detailed report can be seen on Winescores.ca

You can see the Photo Gallery of the various events.

Primum Familiae Vini members attending and wines that were savoured at the gala dinner:

Hubert de Billy - Pol Roger Blanc de Blancs 1999

Etienne Hugel - Riesling Jubilee 2004

Laurent J. Drouhin - Beaune Clos des Mouches Blanc 2005

Alessia Antinori - Tignanello 2004

Miguel Torres - Grans Muralles 2001

Sebastiano Rosa - Tenuta San Guido, Sassicaia 2000

Thomas Perrin - Château de Beaucastel Hommage a Jacques Perrin 2000

Pablo Alvarez - Vega Sicilia Unico 1994

Julien S. de Rothschild - Château Mouton Rothschild 1989

Egon Müller - Scharzhofberger Auslese Goldkapsel 2005

Rupert Symington - Graham's Vintage Port 1980

A Primum Familiae Vini collection case was auctioned for charity. One single case raised 45.000 CA$ to benefit the BC Mental Health Foundation.

In Japan with Serge Dubs, the Word's best sommelier

2008-03-02T17:01:10Z

Yet another trip to Japan, this time with the support of our good friend Serge Dubs in cooperation with our local partner agent Jeroboam.

On the agenda this time, a large scale tasting for members of the Japanese Sommelier Association with a record attendance of 320 top sommeliers that came to taste no less than 8 rieslings from our domaine with the authoritive comments of the Best Sommelier in the World 1989.

Another highlight of this visit was a dinner in Nagoya where our friends of the Haeberlin family just opened a year ago an Auberge de l'Ill together with Monsieur Hiramatsu, keeping intact the symbol of their celebrated HH. Another Auberge de l'Ill is due to open this time in Tokyo, the city with most Michelin starred restaurants in the World. Their partnership may in due course challenge Château Robuchon that was just awarded *** Michelin.

The remaining part of this week long stay was visits to clients, winemaker dinners and tutored tastings organised by our importer centered on a Hugel X Asian Cuisine promotion which enjoys a great success.

On the agenda of the last day of this week long stay is a visit to Enoteca with a warm and generous welcome by Hirose-san before a quick stop with some bottle signing at Dean and DeLuca conveniently located in the Tokyo mid-town shopping center. Our wines are currently featured at both of these prestigious retail outlets.

Discover a slideshow of pictures of this visit.

Alsace 2007, Grade A, according to Wine Spectator

2008-02-06T09:46:27Z

From all the wine regions, only Alsace and southern Rhône were the wine regions of France where vintage 2007 was rated with the perfect A mark by the influential Wine Spectator.

Overall, wine lovers seeking the elegance and balance that typifies classic Alsatian wines should be pleased with 2007. The vintage, said, Etienne Hugel of Hugel & Fils, "ended up with one of the longest harvesting times in recent years [and] with overall longest hang time from blossoming to picking. Just what the doctor ordered. [It] should turn out to be a great classic vintage for us in Alsace."

Feel free to visit or re-visit the day by day coverage of our 2007 vintage on our Vintage Blog

Hugel Vintage Chart from 2007 to 1959

2008-02-04T10:20:05Z

Here is the update with all latest vintages.

You can download the full vintage chart in PDF format with all vintages from 1959 to 2007.

Seasons greetings from all at Hugel

2007-12-19T09:14:42Z

To celebrate the end of the year 2007 which resulted in an exceptional vintage in Alsace, we have created a greetings card that reflects some of the most striking events of the year, in a noticeably Alsasian way....

To enable the chopsticks favourite wines to give you our best wishes for
happiness and prosperity for the new year 2008, please click on http://www.hugel.com/en/goodies.php then on SEE THE CARD

This card also enables you to send a personalised greeting to your own contacts.

Note: a broadband connection is recommended for a smooth viewing of our seasonal greetings.

Happy New Year to you all.

The Hugel family and staff

Gastronomic earthquake in Tokyo

2007-11-21T09:43:12Z

The news, which had been a closely guarded secret right to the end, spread like wildfire through the kitchens of the world, as we were privileged to witness for ourselves. See photo

In effect, we were at the Grand Hyatt Roppongi, the hotel where the dazzling array of guest chefs were staying, with our friends and partners of Jeroboam, our importer in Japan. We learn almost at the same moment that Jeroboam was selected as Japan's best wine importer in a survey sent to 250 key members of the Japanese wine trade. The result of the survey was published by Wine Business International.

With Marc Perrin (Beaucastel) and Hubert de Billy (Champagne Pol Roger) we were at the end of a one week market visit.

The event, related below, will certainly have a long-lasting effect on the entire wine and food world. It is also an inestimable opportunity to be seized as far as our wines are concerned. For many decades our wines have been widely distributed throughout the land of the rising sun, because their ability to match the local cuisine is almost legendary.

TOKYO 'AFP) - On Monday, Tokyo became the Michelin guide's most "star-studded" city in the world. In only its second foray outside the western world, the red guidebook has awarded a record 191 "rosettes" to the restaurants of Japan's capital city, twice as many as in Paris.

For the first time in the 108 year history of the famous French guidebook, a grand total of 150 selected restaurants have been awarded at least one star, a tribute to what Michelin calls the "cuisine beyond compare" of Japan.

Eight restaurants -- five with Japanese cuisine and three with French cuisine -- have received the supreme distinction of three stars, which honour only those establishments that are said to merit making a special journey. 25 other restaurants were awarded two "rosettes" and the remaining 117, one.

Grand finale for a great 2007 vintage

2007-10-15T10:20:16Z

This 2007 vintage in Alsace will bring many surprises, and good ones !

After a harvest which already started over 5 weeks ago, we finally reach a very happy end with the picking early this week of our best plots in the Schoenenbourg and the Sporen slopes.

In the Schoenenbourg we harvest our very best vineyards planted with Riesling with an average ripening of 13.8° potential.

In the Sporen, we are bringing in all remaining plots at the level necessary for Vendange Tardive (Late Harvest) denominations with 17.8° potential. It is worth noting that last week we had already done a selective picking of berries affected by noble rot in the same plots. The corresponding certificate was isued by the inspector of the INAO.

The production or not of VT or SGN is always for us an excellent indicator of the quality of the year.

We invite you to consult the daily figures from our own weather station. The tables show the daily temperature and humidity levels during the whole 5 weeks of picking. Long, cool and dry growing conditions is what makes Alsace unique. With those exceptionnal figures you should have a clearer explanation of our belief that we have just witnessed the birth of a great vintage.

Feel free to consult the final measurements table of the plots we have now finished harvesting. The natural sugar contents have increased rapidly in the last few days due to the development of noble rot.

Hugel Asian Roadshow in Sweden

2007-10-12T09:31:38Z

The chopstick's favourite wines have just made their roadshow in Sweden under the masterful organisation of our agents HJO Grosshandel. See the GASTRO review in Swedish on the Helsingborg part of the trip. More may follow shortly...

Soooooooo great to see at this occasion the many friends of our wines in a country that has always greeted our wines with great enthusiasm.

Final straight with Indian summer

2007-10-08T13:20:42Z

This is now the final straight of our 2007 harvest with a weather that remains just ideal, fog in the morning and sun in the afternoon. Just what Doctor botrytis ordered

Feel free to consult the measurements table of the plots we have just harvested. This table is being progressively updated as our harvest proceeds, with the final figures and the dates of harvest for each individual plot.

It now gets serious for Rieslings

2007-10-03T09:18:07Z

Excellent weather in the last few days, bright and dry. We have at last decided to start bringing in the first Riesling from our domaine. Yet, the 10 day weather forecast is mixed for the later part of the week with some possible light rain.

We let you discover the above short video clip about our 350th anniversary vineyard.

We start harvesting some Riesling vineyards surrounding the best part of the Schoenenbourg. Certain bunches in the oldest vines of the Schoenenbourg are showing some interesting signs of development of noble rot.

We leave you to discover the measurements table of the plots where we had carried out tests earlier on. This table is being progressively updated as our harvest proceeds, with the final figures and the dates of harvest for each individual plot.

Our trainees from Australia

2007-10-01T08:58:12Z

With days when the attention of many is turned towards the rugby world cup, we take the opportunity to introduce to you Krys Smith and Luke McRae. They are both staying with us for the duration of the harvest, an old tradition wich also give us a chance to keep in touch with the "New World" and to practice the language.

First VT & SGN in Pinot Gris

2007-09-27T09:25:18Z

Another proof of the quality and the early nature of the 2007 vintage in Alsace ?
We have just picked a small amount of Vendange Tardive and Sélection de Grains Nobles in Pinot Gris.

We wanted to keep the news confidential for a few days before releasing the information. On September 20 we picked these nectars that were controlled by the INAO as per the legal procedure in place since 1983. The certificate was issued by the inspector the following day.

You will note on the picture the progression and the duration of the extraction which was noted on the settling vat. At the beginning of pressing towards 15.30 the must ran with 18° potential, towards 23.00 it reached over 30°. This proves that we are in the presence of excellent botrytis where the strongest concentrations are reached at the end of the pressing with the highest pressures.

Picking around our best Gewurztraminer

2007-09-25T15:49:07Z

A very unusual rythm this year where we still hesitate to attack our best plots of Gewurztraminer and Riesling of our domaine. The forecast for the weather was supposed to be overcast and rainy on Monday and Tuesday, but we did not get a drop of rain and the skies have remained clear and blue.

We are harvesting our Gewurztraminer vineyards surrounding the best part of the Sporen. Certain bunches in the oldest vines of the Sporen are showing some interesting signs of the development of noble rot. Nothing new on the Riesling front, this variety continues its slow ripening. More to follow...

Second and last round of Muscats

2007-09-21T22:10:32Z

André Hugel (vintage 1929) cannot resist biting into such gorgeous muscat grapes

One always says that drinking a good glass of Muscat gives the impression of biting into a Muscat grape. This is exactly what a group of top Moscow clients group has been able to witness today in the company of our Russian importer MBG. They were able to taste in just a few hours the Muscat fruit as it was being picked in the Schoenenbourg and then taste the same variety in bottle during the tasting.

Just like a week ago, the grapes were perfectly healthy enabling us to destem he grapes for a 12 hours skin contact. You can view once more the video of the desteming.

Half way report, vintage 2007

2007-09-19T23:49:01Z

With the return of a beautiful dry weather, sunny but fresh on Wednesday September 19, our suppliers under contract go back and harvest at a fast pace. By the end of the week most of the purchased grapes will be in.

In our domaine, only a little more than 6 hectares (15 acres) were harvested to date, mainly Pinot Noirs and Gris. We leave you to discover the measurements table of the plots where we had carried out tests earlier on. This table will be progressively updated as our harvest advances with the final figures and the dates of harvest for each individual plot.

Our main task now is to manage with equal success the harvest of Gewurztraminers and Rieslings fron the remaining 20 hectares (50 acres) of our domaine. No reason to panic the 10 day weather forecast remains favorable, the grapes remarkably sound and we are only on September 20...