Famille Hugel

Hugel & Fils was founded in 1639 in Riquewihr, Alsace, and is still 100% family owned. The house states that it is managed by the 12th consecutive generation of the family. In a report dated August 19, 2022, Wine Spectator wrote that the estate is run by Marc, Marc-André and Jean-Frédéric, representing the family's 12th and 13th generations. Wine Spectator also reported that Etienne Hugel (d. 2016) steered the business for decades. In 2015 the company was reinvented as Famille Hugel, a name change Wine Spectator reported was accompanied by a major overhaul of the range and label design.

• Founded in 1639 in Riquewihr; 100% family owned
• Cellars under XVIth-century buildings in the heart of medieval Riquewihr hold large oak barrels more than one century old, including the "S. Caterine" cask, dated 1715
• The family states it is a member of Primum Familiae Vini, an association that promotes the values of family wine producers
• Hugel wines carry distinctive yellow labels

The Hugel family pioneered late-harvest Alsace wines, Vendange Tardive and Sélection de Grains Nobles, and drafted the law that governs their production. The house states that, as the pioneers of these wines, the family was asked to draft the legislation, which became French law in 1984. It describes the law as the strictest in force in any of the French AOC wine regions. The house connects the legislation with Jean "Johnny" Hugel (1924-2009), 11th generation of the family.

• Vendange Tardive and Sélection de Grains Nobles law drafted by the Hugel family; French law since 1984
• Riesling Vendange Tardive is made from overripe grapes picked well after the classic vintage, in the greatest years only
• The Riesling Vendange Tardive comes from a selection of the oldest plots of the estate in the heart of Grand Cru Schoenenbourg

According to the house, Hugel wines express the pure varietal character of Gewurztraminer, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Muscat and Pinot Blanc, with no "make-up" from oaking or sweetening. Grapes are taken in small tubs to the presses, which are filled by gravity, without any pumping or other mechanical intervention. For the Classic Riesling, the must is decanted for a few hours after pressing, then fermented in temperature-controlled vats at 18°C to 24°C. The wine is racked just once, before natural clarification during the winter, and lightly filtered the following spring just before bottling.

• No "make-up" from oaking or sweetening, per the house
• Gravity-filled presses, no pumping or other mechanical intervention
• Single racking, natural winter clarification, light filtration before spring bottling
• Pinot Noir Jubilee: destemmed, macerated for about 2 weeks with pigeage, matured for almost 10 months in small oak barriques partially renewed each year

The estate covers 30 hectares of prime sites in Riquewihr, mostly classed Grand Cru, planted with only the noble Alsace grape varieties, with vines averaging 35 years of age. Hugel also buys grapes from a further 110 hectares farmed under contract. Grand Cru Schoenenbourg, overlooking Riquewihr, supplies the Riesling Grossi Laüe from 40–60-year-old vines rooted in Keuper marl with gypsum and dolomite. Grand Cru Sporen, west of Riquewihr, is a gently sloping, south-east facing hillside on Jurassic clay-marl soils that the house calls the historic home of its finest Gewurztraminers. The heart of the Pinot Noir Jubilee comes from a vineyard planted in 1966 on the Pflostig slope. The house states that since 2025 the entire estate has been certified organic.

• Schoenenbourg: Riesling; Keuper marl with gypsum and dolomite
• Sporen: Gewurztraminer; Jurassic clay-marl, south-east facing; vines aged 30 to 80 years, cultivated without herbicides or insecticides for more than twenty years
• Pflostig: chalky vineyard for Pinot Noir; the Pinot Noir Les Neveux comes from a vineyard bought in 1985 by the 3 nephews of Johnny Hugel and planted in 1966
• Schoelhammer, the estate's finest plot in the heart of Grand Cru Schoenenbourg, covers 6,300 square metres: 30 rows of organically farmed Riesling
• Schoelhammer sits at an altitude of 300 metres, facing due south, on a slope that averages 25 degrees

Classic wines are made exclusively from hand-harvested grapes from vineyards in a dozen of the most favoured localities in and around Riquewihr. Tradition wines come from the strictest selection of grapes, both by origin and by level of maturity, and are made only from the four noble grape varieties. Estate is a parcel selection of carefully chosen plots of the family estate in Riquewihr's most prestigious crus. Jubilee, created in 1989 to celebrate the family's 350th anniversary, is made only in the finest vintages from the family's oldest vineyard estates in Riquewihr. Grossi Laüe, meaning great growth in the Alsace dialect, brings together the three great terroirs of the estate: the Clos du Pflostig and the Grands Crus Sporen and Schoenenbourg. The Riesling from the Schoelhammer plot has been bottled separately since 2007. Hommage à Jean Hugel celebrates the retirement vintage of Jean Hugel and is an intermediate quality level between the Jubilee and Vendange Tardive ranges. Gentil revives an ancient Alsace tradition in which wines assembled from noble grape varieties were called "Gentil".

• Jubilee: Riesling from the heart of Grand Cru Schoenenbourg, Gewurztraminer from the best sections of Grand Cru Sporen, Pinot Noir from the chalky Pflostig vineyard, Pinot Gris from both Sporen and Pflostig
• Riesling Grossi Laüe: the house's flagship dry wine, sourced exclusively from Grand Cru Schoenenbourg
• Gentil 2025: 29% Gewürztraminer, 25% Riesling, 20% Pinot Blanc, 15% Sylvaner, 7% Pinot Gris, 4% Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains
• Estate: most of the chosen plots are being converted to organic viticulture

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://m.hugel.com/598DGMB3C4/en, https://m.hugel.com/261G79ANBJ/en, https://m.hugel.com/262G7AKXQ2/en, https://m.hugel.com/260G788JZT/en, https://m.hugel.com/263G7BESAR/en, https://m.hugel.com/2605G20DAD/en, https://m.hugel.com/IUS26E, https://m.hugel.com/W819YE, https://m.hugel.com/D61KQE, https://m.hugel.com/6MH2SE, https://m.hugel.com/L92XCE, https://m.hugel.com/0GSM2E, https://m.hugel.com/K4DM0E, https://m.hugel.com/XEQ130, https://m.hugel.com/Z6P02V, https://m.hugel.com/Q02YIE, https://m.hugel.com/2497G1XDFG/en. Secondary sources: https://www.winespectator.com/articles/andre-hugel-alsace-champion-and-leader-of-famille-hugel-winery-dies-at-92, https://www.winespectator.com/articles/alsace-vintner-etienne-hugel-dies-at-57. Last verified 2026-09-23. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.