Maison Trimbach

Maison Trimbach's viticultural origins date back to 1626, when Jean Trimbach arrived from Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines and was received as a Bourgeois in Riquewihr, where he became a winegrower and winemaker. The estate relocated to Hunawihr in 1840, and Frédéric Emile Trimbach (born 1839) took over in the following years. In 1875 he was awarded a Diploma of Honor at the Brussels International Fair, which the house says established its international reputation. Maison Trimbach moved to Ribeauvillé in 1920 and is still located there. Bernard Trimbach took over the estate in 1953, and in 1963 his younger brother Hubert joined him and, seeing opportunities abroad, began to travel around the world.

• Frédéric Théodore Trimbach, born in 1898, was one of the founders of the Syndicat des Négociants et Viticulteurs d'Alsace
• The Cuvée Frédéric Emile was created in 1967, replacing the Riesling Grande Réserve
• Pierre Trimbach (1956-2026) joined in 1979 after studying viticulture and oenology in Beaune; his brother Jean joined in 1985 to handle export and marketing
• The Riesling Hommage à Hubert Trimbach is made in tribute to Hubert Trimbach (1938-2023), 11th generation
• The Riesling 390th Anniversary was produced only once, in 2016, for the house's 390th anniversary

As of September 2026 the house is run by the 12th and 13th generations of the Trimbach family. Julien Trimbach, Jean's son, arrived at the estate in 2014 and is now the sole winemaker, succeeding his uncle Pierre Trimbach (1956-2026), winemaker and technical director from 1979. Jean Trimbach, Pierre's brother, has been sales and export director since 1985.

• Anne Trimbach, Pierre's eldest daughter (13th generation), arrived in 2008 and travels mainly for export
• Frédérique Trimbach, Pierre's daughter, has been at the estate since 2016 and manages graphics, labels and raw material purchases
• Pauline Trimbach, Jean's eldest daughter, arrived in 2021 and handles wine sales in France
• Anne-Catherine is cellar master
• Wine Spectator reported that Pierre Trimbach was president of the Grands Maisons d'Alsace association for 30 years and served on the national committee of INAO

Trimbach's vines are located on the Ribeauvillé fracture field, and 70% of its vineyard is concentrated in the villages of Ribeauvillé, Bergheim and Hunawihr. The house cites a mosaic of soils including the shell limestone called Muschelkalk, marls, sandstone from the Vosges and migmatites. Its vines average 45 years old and are planted at 5,500 to 6,000 vines per hectare. All 61 hectares of its vineyards and the grapes it selects from 35 winegrowers have been certified organic since 2023, and organic viticulture began in Clos Sainte Hune in 2008.

• Grand Cru Geisberg: the Couvent de Ribeauvillé entrusted its vineyard to the family; the first Geisberg was produced in 2009 from the 2.66 hectares of the Vignoble du Couvent and marketed in 2015, the first Trimbach Grand Cru to bear its name on the label
• Grand Cru Schlossberg: 1.6 hectares acquired in 2012; first vintage 2014, marketed in 2017
• Grand Cru Brand: 1.8 hectares acquired in Turckheim in 2016 and 2017; first vintage 2018
• Grand Cru Mandelberg: a hectare of vines over 60 years old in Mittelwihr, formerly bottled as Cuvée M and called Grand Cru Mandelberg since the 2016 vintage
• For more than 20 years all new plantings have used plants from mass selection, and a flock of sheep maintains the soils in winter

Clos Sainte Hune is a 1.67-hectare parcel at mid-slope in the Grand Cru Rosacker in Hunawihr that has belonged to the Trimbach family for over 200 years; the first label found on the estate dates from 1919. The plot faces south and south-east on Muschelkalk and Lettenkohle mother rock, and its vines are at least 60 years old on average, the oldest planted well over 80 years ago. As the Grand Cru has never been claimed, the wine is classified AOP. Production is usually around 7,000 bottles.

• Decanter reported that the Trimbachs, like the firms of Hugel and Beyer, have always been firmly opposed to the grand cru system in Alsace
• Only two vintages have been produced with the Late Harvest mention, 1983 and 1989; Decanter reported that no Clos Sainte Hune was bottled in 1980 or 1984
• Vinified in old casks or sometimes stainless steel depending on the vintage and volume, fermented at around 18-20 degrees Celsius, bottled in the spring after harvest and kept for a few years in the cellar before sale; the house advises waiting at least 10 years
• Decanter wrote that many critics and sommeliers regard it as one of the greatest white wines in the world, and Olivier Humbrecht of Domaine Zind-Humbrecht told Wine Spectator: “Trimbach’s Clos Ste-Hune Riesling is the most valuable wine of the region.”
• wein.plus reported in November 2024 that the international wine scene gathered at Maison Trimbach to celebrate a hundred years of Clos Ste Hune and the release of the 2019 vintage

Trimbach classifies its wines in five ranges: Classic wines, Réserve, Réserve Personnelle, the Riesling and Grands Crus Collection, and Vendanges Tardives and Sélections de Grains Nobles. The range is mainly Riesling, but also Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc, Sylvaner and Muscat. Each wine is made from a single grape variety except the Pinot Blanc, which is blended with Auxerrois.

• Classic range: Riesling, Pinot Blanc and Gewurztraminer from grapes selected across different Alsace terroirs, vinified in a dry, precise and straightforward style
• Riesling Frédéric Emile: from the Grands Crus Geisberg and Osterberg of Ribeauvillé, with vines averaging around 45 years; the house states that great vintages mature for twenty years or more
• Réserve Personnelle: Pinot Gris Réserve Personnelle and Gewurztraminer Seigneurs de Ribeaupierre, produced only in the best vintages
• Pinot Noir Cuve 7 takes its name from the number of the vat in which it was first produced and comes particularly from Rotenberg in Ribeauvillé
• Vendanges Tardives are produced only in great years; Gewurztraminer Sélection de Grains Nobles is rarely produced, recently in 2000, 2001, 2007 and 2008

The house gives its credo on its own site as three key words, "Balance, balance and balance", attributed to Pierre Trimbach. Four pneumatic presses handle the harvest, and the juice descends by gravity into the cellar below the estate. Each plot is vinified separately, except the classic Pinot Blanc, Riesling and Gewurztraminer, in thermo-regulated vats, and no malolactic fermentation is carried out except for Pinot Noir. The cellar holds old casks and stainless steel vats, the wines do not undergo cold stabilization, and bottling runs from the spring after harvest until the end of July or the beginning of September.

• The house describes its Riesling style as picked at the end of harvest, fermented until no sugar remains, vinified in stainless steel with no new oak and no malolactic fermentation, bottled early and aged in the cellar for several years before release
• Wines are aged on fine lees for several months and given tangential filtration with ceramic filters
• The harvest team numbers 60, of whom 20 are present throughout the year
• Decanter described Trimbach's Rieslings as among the most severe and uncompromising from Alsace

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.trimbach.fr/en, https://www.trimbach.fr/en/notre-histoire, https://www.trimbach.fr/en/nos-vignes, https://www.trimbach.fr/en/notre-equipe, https://www.trimbach.fr/en/vins-alsace, https://www.trimbach.fr/en/a-la-cave, https://www.trimbach.fr/en/clos-sainte-hune, https://www.trimbach.fr/en/all-about-clos-sainte-hune, https://www.trimbach.fr/en/why-do-we-love-riesling-so-much. Secondary sources: https://magazine.wein.plus/great-wine-and-an-ancient-legend-tasting-riesling-clos-ste-hune-by-trimbach, https://www.decanter.com/learn/wine-legend-trimbach-clos-ste-hune-1990-297948/, https://www.winespectator.com/articles/alsace-winemaker-pierre-trimbach-riesling-obituary. Last verified 2026-09-23. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.