Alsace Winemaker Pierre Trimbach Dies at 69
Pierre Trimbach, technical director and elder statesman of the prestigious Maison Trimbach winery in Ribeauvillé, Alsace, died in a traffic accident on Jan. 31. He was 69 years old.
Born in 1956, Trimbach was the eldest of five children and had an early passion for wine; he started driving the tractor to bring grapes to the cellar at age 14. A graduate of enology school in Beaune, Burgundy, Trimbach worked with another famous Alsace winemaking clan, Famille Hugel, as well as with Robert Mondavi in Napa Valley before returning to his namesake estate to take the reins in the cellar in 1979. The 2025 vintage was his 46th.
His passion for the land drove him from a young age, recalls Olivier Humbrecht, of another renowned Alsace family-owned estate, Domaine Zind-Humbrecht. “When I was around 13 years old, Pierre came with his father to look at a new [tractor] we were experimenting with—it was a very scary machine in a steep vineyard. Pierre’s father told him, ‘Your turn, you try it!’ And Pierre very bravely jumped on the tractor. People saw him as a general manager, but he was a real vigneron as well.”
A Behind-the-Scenes Giant
More reserved than his globe-trotting brother, Jean, who became the face of the Trimbach brand around the world, Pierre spent most of his time in his vineyards and cellar, where he maintained and elevated the iconic style of Trimbach: pure, precise, mineral-driven wines with extraordinary longevity. Pierre once described the style of his wines to Wine Spectator as “dry, classic, even a little austere, but made for food.” A big believer in holding back Rieslings until they are ready to drink, Trimbach released the estate’s top wines many years—often a decade—after vintage.
“Pierre loved great wines. He was always trying to reach perfection and always said that 100% of the quality of a wine is already in the grapes, nothing else can improve it,” said Jean. “His favorite saying for his wines was, ‘The three conditions to make a great wine are number one, balance; number two, balance; and number three, balance.’ Thanks to the purity, finesse and balance of our wines, Pierre made the task of selling our wines all over the world easy.”
The family’s history in wine dates to 1626, and Pierre made his mark by fine-tuning the wines for the modern era and growing global acclaim. The winery is famous for a number of iconic Riesling cuvées. The estate’s top wine, Clos St.-Hune, is sourced from a four-acre old-vine parcel in Grand Cru Rosacker in Hunawihr. It is considered one of the greatest Rieslings—and wines—in the world.
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“Under his direction in the vineyard and the cellar, Pierre probably built one of the strongest brands in Alsace,” said Humbrecht. “Trimbach’s Clos Ste-Hune Riesling is the most valuable wine of the region.”
A purist, Trimbach stayed true to the house style even as many producers in Alsace shifted to a riper, more generous style of Riesling with the aid of a warming climate, later harvesting and more extended lees aging in the cellar. His dry, precise, structured Rieslings are legendary for their ageability.
A Champion for Alsace and French Wine
Outside of his own family’s estate, Trimbach was a fierce believer in the potential and heritage of his region and dedicated much of his time to its elevation. He was president of the Grands Maisons d’Alsace association for 30 years, president of the Vendanges Tardives and Sélection de Grains Nobles Committee since 2000 and served on the national committee of France’s National Institute of Origin and Quality (INAO), which oversees appellations. Pierre had just stepped down from his role of president at the esteemed Académie du Vin de France, an important organization dedicated to protecting and promoting the quality of French wine.
“Pierre was super involved in the Alsace wine organizations and was probably the most respected person there,” said Humbrecht. “He was straight and honest—all the winegrowers deeply regret his loss, he was so knowledgeable and kind.”
When not working at the estate, Trimbach loved to ski, a pursuit he developed in Briançon and the French Alps during his military service in the mid-1970s. “No mountain was too high for him—he even skied the Himalayas,” said Jean.
Pierre is survived by his two daughters, Anne and Frédérique, and his niece, Pauline, all of whom work for the family estate, as well as his wife, Paulette. His nephew, Julien, has worked alongside Pierre for 12 years and will take the lead in the cellar.
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