Vintage years

1978: Late-ripening year, refined and dry. Very astringent but surprising ageing potential.

1979: Devastating hail. No wine produced.

1980: Very late-ripening, cold and rainy year. Interesting wines with their minerality and body. Very small harvest.

1981 : Average ripening year, interesting wines with light density and beautiful elegance. Tender wines. Average ageing potential.

1982: Large harvest (50 hectolitres per hectare!), balanced year, straightforward and expressive wines with average ageing potential. The terroir features are less present than usual.

1983: Hot and early-ripening year. This vintage year is the image of Rangen. Powerful, dry and with ageing potential. Dominant terroir characteristics on grape varieties.

1984: Flowering mid-July! Cold and rainy years. Harvest end of November. Dry, character-filled wines with beautiful mineral force but lacking in length. Rangen had more than other terroirs.

1985: Late-ripening year but very balanced. Very dry end of season. Perfect ripening. Dry, taut and expressive wines. Beautiful vintage year, dry wines with great acidity.

1986: Balanced year, late-ripening. Harvest end of November. Very remarkable balance. Dry wines as well as production of the first Sélections de Grains Nobles. Superb botrytis. A great vintage year for ageing potential.

1987: Flowering beginning of July. Late-ripening year, cold and average maturity. Once again Rangen is capable of producing very interesting wines. Beautiful lively acidities. Average density.

1988: Average ripening time, but very late harvesting for Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer picked with noble rot as Vendange Tardive. Dry Riesling. Very complex and fine wines. Great ageing potential.

1989: Hot year, early-ripening but balanced. Dry Riesling and Pinot Gris but also great Sélection de Grains Nobles in Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris. Dense and powerful wines, very expressive with fantastic ageing potential.

1990: Well-balanced vintage year, very small harvest with complex, powerful and deep wines. Dry wines, or nearly. Absence of botrytis but presence of raisining. A year for very good ageing potential.

1991: Hot year which became late-ripening. Small harvest. Great presence of botrytis for Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer, dry Riesling. Great acid and saline balances. A vintage year for keeping.

1992: Large harvest after favourable flowering. Hot weather. Easy wines, open up quickly and are pleasant. Average ageing potential but wines are still very lovely.

1993: Complicated year as interspersed with rainy periods. Very late-ripening harvest and large presence of botrytis. Very dense and colourful Sélections de Grains Nobles but not very sweet. Extreme wines. Very good ageing potential.

1994: A great late-ripening year in Rangen. Classic month of October. Wonderfully complex, dense, dry and sweet wines. Saline acidity Wines with great ageing potential.

1995: Very small harvest (25 hectolitres per hectare for the dry ones), late-ripening year, strong acidity, presence of noble rot for Pinot Gris. Great salinity and strong trace of terroir. Great ageing potential

1996: Average ripening, fairly cold year but dry and sunny. Little botrytis but great concentration for sweet Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer and dry Riesling. Strong acidity, length and density. Good ageing potential.

1997: Very sunny year, more hot than light. Very early-ripening, great maturity and average but ripe acidity. Powerful and expressive wines, great purity, beautiful ageing potential.

1998: Average ripening, great light during October and good development conditions for exceptional botrytis. Sweet and dessert wines. Great acidity and sweetness. Very colourful wines. Can taste the terroir and good ageing potential.

1999: Late-ripening year. End of harvest under the snow on November 19. Dry Riesling, Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer moelleux. Full-bodied, extraordinary wines with lots and power and force. Good ageing potential.

2000: Sunny, hot and early-ripening year. Quick and easily-acquired maturity. Smooth and very powerful wines, marked by botrytis. Average acidity but beautiful terroir traces. Great ageing potential.

2001: A great late-ripening year. Extraordinary month of October. Bright vintage year. Deep and fine wines with great acidity. Presence of noble rot for Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer. Superb ageing potential.

2002: Late-ripening year with great late autumn: significant development of noble rot. Remarkable acidity, pronounced colours. Rich wines, great sweetness and concentrated terroir characteristics. Very good ageing potential.

2003: Very early-ripening year. Record heat and crazy drought. Difficult vintage year especially for young and complanted vines which suffered greatly. Weak acidity but great tannins and beautiful minerality.

2004: Season began with early-ripening but became late-ripening. Great maturity and good potential but impossible to make sweet wines due to bad weather at the end of October. Beginning of botrytis, dry wines, very mineral, very powerful. Good ageing potential.

2005: Late-ripening vintage year with great late autumn. Pretty botrytis for Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer. Small harvest. Elegant, powerful wines with astonishing structure from the ripe acidity. Terroir characteristics very present.

2006: Early-ripening year both difficult due to a rainy end-of-September and very interesting due to its distinct character. Great presence of botrytis but Pinot Gris is dry. Pronounced colour, great acidity, powerful wines with great exuberance. Even if it’s hard to believe, it is a year for great ageing potential.

2007: Great balance and early-ripening with a temperate summer. Strong acidity and great power. Light botrytis for Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer. Classic dry Riesling. Very classy, remarkable terroir expressions and good ageing potential.

2008: A nearly late-ripening year, great late autumn. Remarkable very ripe acidities. Dry, taut Riesling. Classic, dry Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer. Lots of depth and elegance. Can be kept forever!

2009: Hot, sunny and early-ripening vintage year, but balanced. Tender, powerful wines with length. Delectable early expression of fruit. Slightly-sweet Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer. Wonderful ageing potential.

2010: Late-ripening for Rangen. Very small harvest. Superb late autumn. Delicate wines but with a great force. Intense terroir expression, great saline acidity. Remarkable ageing potential. But it’s still too early to judge!

2011: Very early-ripening vintage year, hot and sunny with a cold and rainy period in summer. Elegant and racy wines with normal acidity. Great length and density, fairly dry. But here also, the young wines make it hard to assess.

Some examples of wine and food pairings from the Zind-Humbrecht estate issued from the Clos-Saint-Urbain.

• Pinot-Gris Rangen Clos-Saint-Urbain 2009 Sélection de Grains nobles and roasted fruit millefeuilles.
• Pinot-Gris Rangen Clos-Saint-Urbain 2005 (Indice 3***) suggested with a fricassee of sweetbreads with porcini mushrooms accompanied by a root vegetable broth, flavored with lemongrass, by Enrico Bernardo, Best Sommelier of the World 2004.
• Pinot-Gris Rangen Clos-Saint-Urbain 2004 (Indice 1) and duck foie gras from the Landes region grilled on a wood-fire oven accompanied by autumn fruits (Hélène Darroze).
• Pinot-Gris Rangen Clos-Saint-Urbain 1991 (Indice 3) and duck foie gras with Riesling jelly (Le Français).
• Riesling Rangen Clos-Saint-Urbain 1988 (Indice 1), 1989 (Indice 1) and 1994 (Indice 1) with a Brittany-style lobster stew with fresh morel mushrooms and old Riesling sauce (Auberge de l’Ill, Illhausern) or a green pea mousse, vanilla jelly and fennel foam (Le Bristol, Colmar).
• Gewurztraminer Rangen Clos-Saint-Urbain 1986 Sélection de Grains nobles and Grand-mère Zind cream tart (Restaurant le Lutèce, New York) or a bitter chocolate and orange pastry (Chez Laurent, Paris).

Location

Rangen is located at the end of the valley overlooking the Thur river with, at its feet, the town of Thann. When contemplating the views from Rangen, it’s possible to distinguish – among other things – the magnificent Saint-Thiébault collegiate (flamboyant Rhineland Gothic style, built between the end of the 13th century and the 15th century), the «Witches’ Tower» (former rampart tower from the 15th century) and the Engelbourg castle. The latter was built as of 1234 and its donjon, today lying on the ground, is regionally nicknamed «the witch’s eye» following the destruction of the castle shortly after the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648.

Soil

From the Carboniferous age (Devonian-Dinantian), the soil is made of volcanic rock and sediments, usually sandstone, in which volcanic elements are more or less abundant. The ground-strewn stones come from hard rock, graywacke, volcanic tuff - and flowing rock – a brown mica andesite. This composite soil has a varying thickness of 40 to 60 cm above the fissured parent rock. This fissuring allows vine roots to penetrate deeper, stimulating exceptional, natural draining.

La nature du terrain et la profondeur du sol caractérisent un milieu maigre, pauvre en argiles. However, they are very present and characterised by a high exchange surface, favourable to preserving minerals. The dark, brown-reddish soil colour furthermore boosts high soil temperatures.

In parallel, the due south exposure of the terroir increases the time for direct sunlight, setting the vineyard in a privileged position along the very steep Rangen slope (90° on average) which only has terraced vineyard plots.

Microclimate

The high altitude of Rangen (between 350 and 450 metres), as well as a rather elevated rainfall (750 mm per years), make it a late-ripening terroir. The spring is often more cold and rainy than on early-ripening terroirs.

However, with its due south exposure and singular colour, the Rangen soil becomes a real furnace in summer, giving vines the bright energy they require.

In this terroir, autumn is light and warm: once the morning mists disappear, the upper hill emerges into full sunlight, overlooking the humidity on the Alsace plain. The ripening grapes benefit fully from this situation.

Finally, the rainfall level along with this exceptional exposure allows for a slow ripening of the grapes in October and November. The grapes thus reach very high sugar concentration levels in sugar.

Grape varieties

The late-ripening character of Rangen makes it a terroir favourable to great physiological grape ripening. This is essential for ripening a varietal like Riesling which is a late-ripening variety. Despite the site topography (steep slope at 90%, south exposure, warm soil), the evolution of grapes is slow and the harvests often late (2 to 3 weeks after harvest time begins).

The warm, porous, acid-like soil perfectly suits Riesling but also - quite astonishingly - Pinot Gris which is a variety considered better matched for calcareous terroirs. If Pinot Gris harmoniously grows in Rangen it’s partly due to the ability of this terroir to produce very low yields.

However, Gewurztraminer is rarer. Except for some vines close to the river or at the bottom of the hill as most of the cru suffers cold winds from the valley. They can harm this grape variety by disturbing its blossoming (resulting in coulure risks) or preventing its ripening. But Gewurztraminer planted here is capable of expressing the volcanic rock signature, having this varietal lose most of its most expected characters.

Heritage transmission

Rangen appears in history-books around the 12th and 13th centuries. We can legitimately suppose that the vines were planted much earlier but the first important and known parcel transactions within this wine-growing area date from this period:

• 1272: according to a document from the Murbach abbey, all the Rangen hillside is planted with vines.
• 1291: The Dominican monastery in Basel had 4 scadi (the equivalent of 16 acres today) of vines in Rangen. Thann was already becoming famous with its wine and the Rangenwein was considered as «the warmest and most violent of the region».
• 1292 : l'abbaye de Masmunster possède des vignes au Rangen. The Saint-Ursitz monastery in Einsiden, the Cistercian abbey in Haute-Seille (in Meurthe et Moselle) were also among the landowners in this cru.
• 1296: in December, Burchard zum Rosen from Basel bought vines in banno ville Tanne in monto diste Rangen – «in the town territory of Thann, in the lieu-dit of Rangen».
• 1469: the archduke of Austria offered to the messengers of Charles le Téméraire «many glasses of Rangen wines» as he found it to be «a vigorous courage booster».

Some remarkable vintage years:

Since the founding of Thann in 1161, many vintage years have been described.

What counted was the variety, and Malachias Tschamser, in La Grande Chronique de Thann, was very loquacious on the subject:

• 1186: harvests in August!
• 1189: record wine prices due to a small harvest.
• 1228 and 1232: extremely good, it was so hot in 1232 that you could fry eggs in the sand!
• 1274: harvest had to wait until November.
• 1347: bad year.
• 1431: huge production, all our barrels were full so wine was used to make mortar to build the church!

An admired cru all over Europe

The exceptional quality of its wines has allowed Rangen to acquire a long-standing reputation well beyond the Alsace borders. The Saint-Thiébaut de Thann church drew-in pilgrims from Germany, England, Denmark and other Scandinavian countries. These pilgrims found in Rangen this «miraculous source» capable of soothing the worst torments and news quickly spread of its virtues all over Europe. During the whole Middle Ages, monastery life was also very active (like the Franciscans of Thann), and monks came in great numbers to pray, but also … to taste the Rangen wine! Finding it good, they highly-praised it upon returning home. In 1550, Sébastien Munster wrote in the Cosmographie de Thann: Thann is a pretty town belonging to the Lords of Ferret and a castle on the Engelburg mountain and near the town a hillside called Rang on which grows a delectable wine called Vin du Rangen and he follows on by boasting the diabolic effects of this wine!

En 1628, dans le Pantheum Hygistticum du docteur Claudius Deodatus furent notés les meilleurs vins d'Alsace. Rangen de Thann is among them.

Au temps de l'impératrice Maria Théresa (1740-1780), le vin du Rangen était bu à la cour. According to the grand book by the canon Médard Barth (Der Rebbau in Elsass), a private tutor to the Lôwenberg princes family and also introduced to the imperial palace affirmed that, «more Rangen wine was drunk in Vienna than all Thann and its surroundings could produce».

In 1648, by the Munster Treaty, the King of France Louis became the Lord of Thann and thus had in his possession several schatz of the Rangen vineyards which were formally the property of the archduke Ferdinand Charles of Austria.

• 1659: the town of Thann (1150 inhabitants) had twenty wine-makers.
• 1793: destruction of the Saint Urbain chapel (built around 1480) by revolutionaries.
• 1897: end of Rangen vineyards being destroyed by phylloxera.
• 1933: inauguration of the Montaigne road which crossed the Rangen lengthwise, at mid-slope.
• 1934: inauguration and benediction of the rebuilt Saint Urbain chapel. Each year, to finish the wine-makers’ mass given during the month of June, Rangen wine-makers serve their cru wine to the parishioners.

Poets and writers sung praises and told tales about these wines

The Thann vineyard was admired by the philosopher and writer Michel Eyquem de Montaigne. During this great trip across Europe from 1580 to 1581, Montaigne wrote:

Thann quatre lieues. First town of Germany, with an emperor, very beautiful and large plain with one side vine-filled hillsides, the most remarkable and best cultivated and in such great number that the Gascons who were there said they had never seen so many at once.

The trail which crosses the Rangen today is named after this great writer.

Rangen wine was also praised by numerous poets including Fischart in Gargantua (1607):

Ja der Wein zu Dann, des Rangenweines, das steckt der Heylig Sanct Rango, der nimmt den Rang und ringt so lang, biss er einen rant und trengt unter die Banck.

Yes Saint Rango was staying in the Rangen, he took up arms and fought relentlessly until he rolled under the bench.

Sébastien Brand, a known Strasbourg figure, is at the origin of a legend regarding the Colmar coat of arms, inspired by Rangen wines was so much appreciated:

Hercule, during a trip around Europe, arrived from Xeres in Spain through the Loire valley then from Burgundy to Alsace. There he wanted to taste some wines in the Zum Wilden Mann inn. The innkeeper offered him some Riquewihr wine which he liked but found rather flat, he wanted a more full-bodied wine. So the innkeeper proposed him some Rangen wine. He found it so extraordinary that he drank three bottles and said:

Das ist ein Schluk, potzt Element,
Wie der in Kehl' und Magen brennt!
Herr Wirt, Ich Sag’s auf meine Ehr,
Ich fand noch keinen Wein so Schwehr!

Then he fell asleep in a corner. When he woke up the next morning he quickly ran away, forgetting the club he always had at his side. He never returned to fetch it as he feared the incredible power of Rangen wines. But since, this club now appears on the Colmar coat of arms.

La littérature, les odes, les chansons, les poésies au sujet du vin du Rangen foisonnent. The splendour and force of this exalted wine, so praised by numerous writers like the canon Barth in his book Der Rebbau im Elsass.

Strict regulations

During the 16th century, even if some red wines were grown, it was mostly the white grape varieties (already Muscat and Traminer) which dominated in Rangen. Decrees from 1548 and 1581 forbid planting «ignoble» grape varieties such as Rheinelbe. Anyone who failed to respect this obligation was punished and the vine stocks grubbed up. (Statuses published in the Bulletin from the Belfort History Society). It was also strictly forbidden to blend the Rangen wine with other wines while displaying the name of Rangen on the label. When seeing these regulations, which were very severe for the time, it’s obvious that the Rangen terroir identity was already proudly defended. And in 1646, after the renewal of the Thann wine-growing area after the Thirty Years’ War, the magistrate of the town again designated four Bangards (territory keepers) to watch over the vineyards and its farming practices.

Over centuries, the industrial growth and developing town of Thann reduced the once-immense wine-growing area to the size of the Grand Cru as we know it today – about five hundred hectares at the time of Montaigne to a little over twenty-three in 2013. But the Grand Cru today is like a large garden, delimited by the Thur river at the bottom of the hill and by moors and forests on its slopes and overhangs: this unique situation guarantees the terroir an ecosystem boasting a large biological diversity.

Beloved vineyards and land

The exceptionally-steep topography of these Rangen vineyards requires very rigorous work. Remember that this cru sits on a slope of 90% on average, with a soil strewn by volcanic breccias. Manual work is therefore omnipresent for soil maintenance, pruning, stem removal, plant protection … and of course for the harvest!

The plantation has increased growth due to the impossibility of using any mechanical means. There are about 6000 to 10,000 vines per hectare. This density decreases the yield per vine stock and forces the vines roots to dig deep down into the ground for water and mineral resources – the volcanic substrate is poor. This also explains why the Rangen vineyards have fewer grapes.

The soil-type actually makes it very difficult to plant young vines. In the beginning, the roots develop in very porous soil layers poor in organic components therefore wine-growers must closely monitor the evolution of these «baby plants». During a difficult year, it’s common to lose up to a third of these young plants.

Vineyard work split between stone and diseases

Rangen maintenance is difficult. There can be significant erosion and its consequences are dramatique when rainfall pushes the earth to the bottom of the vineyards. So, by necessity the vineyards have small dry-stone walls which wine-growers repair each year. It should also be noted that Rangen is one of the few vineyards where a hoist is frequently used.

In principle, with its altitude and fresh climate, Rangen is subject to powdery mildew – often impressive vintage years. However, during years when there is a lot of heat, particular these last few years, there is an intense development of powdery mildew. The fresh valley winds and the cru altitude avoid significant problems. And that’s a good thing as it’s difficult to protect this wine-growing area as using tractor-driven sprayers is impossible, and manual or air-strewn treatment with helicopters is less efficient. As for botrytis, it is not a major problem in Rangen, in particular at the season-end when it’s actually looked for to make Vendanges Tardives or Sélections de Grains Nobles – two remarkable terroir specialities.

Specific regulations

In 1993, Rangen wine-makers adopted a Charter defining vine-cultivation and harvest rules:

• using mating disruption over the entire cru and banning the usage of any insecticides,
• maximum density of 6000 vines per hectare,
• any enrichment techniques are forbidden,
• minimum harvest degrees at 11.5° (later increased to 12°) for Riesling and Muscat, and 13.5° (later increased to 14°) for Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris,
• maximum yield of 50 hectolitres per hectare without PLC (highest permitted yield per hectare).

In 2010, and within the framework of local management, wine-makers added to these obligations:

• the necessity to respect the natural grape balance by forbidding an processes of acidification and de-acidification,
• the minimum age for harvest was set for five years after being planted.

Today

Rangen was classed as a Grand Cru in 1983 and reached the status of Appellation Rangen Grand Cru in 2011 with a maximum yield for this appellation fixed at 50 hectolitres per hectare in 2012.

A forward-looking vision

During the 18th century, all the Rangen wine-growing area was farmed. In 1960, after the wars and the industrial revolution, three-quarters of the initial terroir was abandoned and a large part of Rangen was covered by forests and underbrush. Today, the whole Rangen surface area has returned to being farmed and is exclusively dedicated to growing vines. Rangen has found its ancestral prestige again, notably because it’s capable of producing wonderful vin de garde, which continue developing incredible complexity when bottled. Rangen wines are coveted and appreciated all over the world. And this is exactly the ambition and drive of this Grand Cru: be compared to the greatest wines in the world!