Hugel, one of the best-known and oldest wine producers in Alsace, having been established in 1639. The family business is run today by the 12th and 13th generations. The Hugels, based in Riquewihr, make fine wines from their own 30 ha/74 acres of vineyard around the village planted mainly with Riesling and Gewurztraminer, together with a little Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir. Their Tradition range can be excitingly full and the Jubilee range masterful. The Hugel family also pioneered the resurrection of Alsace’s late-harvest wines and were instrumental in drawing up the rigorous requirements for these vendange tardive and sélection de grains nobles wines. They are arch exponents of these styles themselves, and produce them, and the Jubilee range, exclusively from their own alsace grand cru vineyards. The Hugel family, of which six family members worked in the Riquewihr wine business in the mid 2000s, have long been champions of maximizing quality in Alsace’s finest wines, and are vociferous opponents of the Alsace Grand Cru appellation, which they feel is no guarantee of quality. The Hugels buy in grapes, never wine, for their basic generic range of wines from about 100 ha/250 120 ha/300 acres of vineyard under contract from more than 300 growers. Marc Hugel is in charge of winemaking.
