TN: 2001 Trimbach – Cuvee Frederic Emile

TN: 2001 Trimbach – Cuvee Frederic Emile – Riesling (Alsace, France)

12.5% alcohol, bought on release. Bright medium yellow. Nose is interesting, with white flowers and minerality plus a dash of dry cumin seeds. The mouthfeel is tart, one dimensional and shows a decent length. The finish is dry and simple, with an alcoholic edge on the back palate. The last bottle I drank of this wine two years ago show marginally better, but I expected more pleasure from this cuvee of Riesling. Even on an ‘intellectual level’ with this wine, I was swiftly bored. Fortunately it is my last bottle of this wine. I have had far more pleasure from the 12 bottles of 2001 Albert Mann Grand Cru Schlossberg that I have drunk over the years, as a comparison.

Interesting. I have had much better luck with this bottling, the 375th and the VTs from the same year. All have been delicious. Perhaps a science experiment is in order.

David, I am happy to hear it.

Nicos, have you ever had a bottle of riesling this young before? I know you usually drink riesling that is 30 years old or more.

In any case, my guess is that wine has shut down. It was very good a few years ago, but right now I would expect it to be showing mostly acid. Try it again in another 10 years. The CFE is great with lots of age.

By the way, I also love Albert Mann Schlossberg. Try the 2010, it is fantastic.

I’ve had a bunch of great bottles, the reg and the 375, but recently some half bottles have been oxidized. I’ve been through about 2 out of 5+ cases of this vintage of CFE.
alan

I’ve had historic troubles with halves of Trimbach. Drink up!

Howard, I know it may seem that way from my TN’s that you studiously review, but it is not accurate. I so enjoy quality maturity in my wines, and so do those who share them with me.

I do enjoy younger Rieslings, e.g.

  • 2001 Albert Mann Scholossberg Grand Cru: 12 bottles drunk over the last few years;
  • 1999 Bollig-Lehnert Kabinett (Mosel): 3 bottles drunk, more to be consumed in the near future;
  • A handful of 2002’s for tasting profile control purposes.

Thank you for your advice. Fortunately, I have no more bottles left in my cellar. Time to move onto fine German Riesling.

The 375 is fantastic, a great wine. I have also enjoyed the regular bottling, but not as much.

I never buy whites in halves, they always age too fast for my liking…

Alan, I take my hat off to you for the quantity of this wine that you have drunk already. Most impressive, given your passion for Burgundy. [worship.gif]

Timely thread. I’d cached a horde of 2001 CFE half-bottles as a hedge against hard times to come, and opened one tonight after reading the comments here. Dead. Opened another … teetering on the edge, tho with sauteed shrimp, not too bad. I guess these halves will be our house wine now with chicken and sea food for a while.

A shame. After the last one I opened, I was sure even the small bottles had years ahead of them.

Anyone tried the VT in 750s recently?

Hate to hear this about 375’s. I bought about a dozen 2005 ZH Clos Windsbuhl which I thought at the time was fantastic. Tried a 375 about a month ago and it was pretty much dead. Color very advanced and some hints of premoxed sherry like notes. Popped another 375 hoping this was just an off bottle and it was the same as the first. Is this common with 375 Alsatians? German Reisling?

I had bad luck on both a 375 (DOA) and a 750 (just flat and listless) of the 2001 CFE. Darn shame, but given all the other complaints here and on CT, I’m not going back to the well on this one.

I think your bottle was quite shut down, Nicos - which makes sense given the wine and its age.

I see that I opened a half bottle NYE - my notes say “darker in color than expected, opened up fairly well, not well-paired (salad)” - hmmm.

Maureen, thanks for your feedback.

All the comments I have read and heard have made my decision not to buy any more Trimbach Riesling an easy one. Plenty of great tasting, reasonably priced Riesling from Germany.

Just pulled a 2001 CFE and threw it in the fridge. We shall see, though I have had no issues with 750s of Trimbach unrelated to poor handling in the distribution chain. Knock on wood.

For those not up on all things Trimbach, in 2001 they made a special bottling of their Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile called the 375ème Anniversaire; mine are .750 size but they might also have bottled it in mags, etc… That’s the FE 375 several posters are talking about, although couple of others are discussing the .375 size bottles of the regular FE.

FWIW, I tried one of my 375 Anniversaire bottles three years ago and it seemed to have potential but was rather mute, unlike other very positive reports of this wine that I’ve read (from Alan among others.) I might open another soon to see if it’s come around.

David please report back on your findings on the regular CFE

Frank, thanks for this. When you say it was a special bottling, what was so special about it? Older vines? Late harvest? Barrel selection?

Good, more for the rest of us.