Alsatian wines are in mourning with the sudden loss of one of its pillars, an owner-merchant who left his mark on the industry and its consumers with his quest for "balance, balance and balance"

The orphaned wines of Alsace by Pierre Heydt-Trimbach. The 69-year-old owner-merchant died accidentally on January 31 near Ammerschwihr (Haut-Rhin). His vehicle left the road and ended up on its roof in a ditch and against a concrete nozzle. Pierre Heydt-Trimbach died in the evening. His name has been attached since 1985, the year of his return to Alsace after six months in California, to the eponymous trading house Frédéric-Emile Trimbach in Ribeauvillé, of which he was the director and official winemaker.

 To make a good wine, you need three conditions

 The man was a tireless defender of Alsace wines. He had character and a rigor that the consumer found in his wines, straight and dry, for which he did not hide his recipe. "To make a good wine, you need three conditions: balance, balance and balance!" he liked to repeat to the point of making it the motto that the company displays on a daily basis, as well as on its website. The Clos Sainte-Hune and Frédéric-Emile cuvées, which have made the reputation of the house, in France but especially abroad, are among others the custodians of this philosophy.

Father of two daughters, Pierre Heydt-Trimbach was still president of FE Trimbach, which will celebrate its 400th anniversary in 2026 with the thirteenth generation at its head. Pierre Heydt-Trimbach was president of the Académie des vins de France, but above all until 2023 and for thirty years, the Groupement des producteurs négociants d'Alsace (GPNVA), which has since become the Grandes maisons d'Alsace.

Source: Vitisphere by Christophe Reibel