Winemaker
Marc Hugel
- Discipline
- Winemaker
i. Biography
In Riquewihr, Alsace, France, estate wine work at Hugel runs through both vineyard and cellar. Marc Hugel looks after the vineyards and winemaking, a plain title that joins two parts of the same discipline: what the season gives in the rows, and how that material is carried into wine. Alsace places a premium on site, farming, and clarity in the glass. At Hugel, that means the work is not divided into an outdoor craft and an indoor craft. Marc Hugel’s position keeps the line intact: observation in the vineyard, judgment at harvest, and cellar decisions made with the family house’s standards in view.
Coming Up
The combined role of winemaker and viticulturist at Hugel covers the full length of production. Marc Hugel is tied to the vines before a wine exists, then remains responsible once the fruit reaches the cellar. The craft is continuous rather than sequential: farming, picking, vinifying, and finishing as one connected set of decisions. That continuity is central to the Hugel estate model. Vineyard work and cellar work are not treated as separate trades passed from one hand to another; they are held in one disciplined line of attention. The finished wines carry that passage from seasonal variation to bottle under the Hugel name.
Where They Are Now
Today, he is winemaker and viticulturist at the estate. Technical direction at Famille Hugel adds another layer to the same work. As technical director of Famille Hugel, Marc Hugel’s responsibility extends beyond day-to-day vineyard and winemaking oversight to the technical stewardship of the family house’s approach. At Hugel in Riquewihr, Alsace, France, the measure of the work is cumulative: looking, tasting, deciding, and refining across vintages. The role sits between the agricultural facts of the vines and the precision required in the cellar.
Career - Winemaker and viticulturist — Hugel, Riquewihr, Alsace
Signature
Schoelhammer Riesling and Riesling Schoelhammer are the named signature wines associated with Marc Hugel. Both place Riesling at the center of the work and sit within Hugel’s estate practice in Alsace. Their significance is practical: they make visible the consequences of vineyard attention and winemaking judgment.
In Their Words “If the classification had been honest, it would have taken one minute, because everyone knew where the boundaries should have been.” The comment treats classification as a recognition of vineyard reality rather than an exercise in complication. In Alsace, where boundaries, vineyards, and names matter, the point is technical as much as political: the ground was already understood.
Honors
On classification, Hugel has said, "If the classification had been honest, it would have taken one minute, because everyone knew where the boundaries should have been."
FAQ What is Marc Hugel's current role? He is winemaker and viticulturist at Hugel and technical director of Famille Hugel.
