Riesling Estates in Alsace
There are many wonderful estates in Alsace, some of which we will be visiting in April. This very incomplete list represents just a few whose wines we especially adore. Look for many new additions in the coming months.
Léon Beyer
BP1, 68420 Eguisheim, France
Tel. (+33) 389-21 62 30
www.leonbeyer.fr
Solid wines from a large producer of both estate and négociant lines. Beyer does not use vineyard names, preferring to continue with the cuvée names that have built their repurtation. For our complete estate review, see the September/October 2000 issue of the Riesling Report electronic magazine.
Best cuvées
Riesling Les Ecaillers
Riesling Comtes d'Eguisheim
Gewurztraminer Comtes d'Eguisheim
Albert Boxler
78 rue des Trois-Epis, 68230 Niedermorschwihr, France
Charismatic wines from an adventurous winemaker who isn't afraid to take chances.
Best vineyards
Sommerberg (Grand Cru)
Brand (Grand Cru)
Ernest Burn
8 Rue Basse, 68420 Gueberschwihr, France
Tel. (+33) 389-49 20 68
Lush, unabashedly fruity wines from the calcarious soils of the Grand Cru Goldert vineyard. Burn is sole owner of Clos St. Imer, the very best part of the Goldert hillside. Their cuvée "La Chappelle" refers to the tiny stone chapel built into the hillside by St. Imer and represents the best of the vintage.
Best vineyards
Goldert "Clos St. Imer" (Grand Cru)
Marcel Deiss
15 route du Vin, 68750 Bergheim, France
Tel. (+33) 389-73 63 37
Undisputedly one of the greatest winemakers anywhere, Jean-Michel Deiss (pronounced DICE) forges wines that are immensely expressive of their terroir but do it in a style that is all finesse and balance.
Best vineyards
Altenberg de Bergheim (Grand Cru)
Schoenenbourg (Grand Cru)
Josmeyer
76 Rue Clemenceau, 68920 Wintzenheim, France
Tel. (+33) 389-27 91 90
www.josmeyer.com
Intense dry wines made the old-fashioned way. Excellent aging potential and superb food wines.
Best vineyards
Hengst (Grand Cru)
Brand (Grand Cru)
Cuvée Riesling "Le Kottabe"
Albert Mann
13 Rue du Château, 68920 Wettolsheim, France
Tel. (+33) 389-80 62 00
www.mann-albert.com
Ever-improving, grand wines from the energetic brothers Maurice and Jacky Barthelmé.
Best vineyards
Schlossberg (Grand Cru)
Furstentum (Grand Cru)
Steingrubler (Grand Cru)
Hengst (Grand Cru)
Pfersigberg (Grand Cru)
Domaine Ostertag
87 Rue Finkwiller, 67680 Epfig, France
Tel. (+33) 388-85 51 34
Bold wines from a gentle man who's very much in touch with the earth and the heavens. The estate is now completely biodynamic and André Ostertag is a bit notorious for his use of new oak with his Pinot Gris. But the wines are impressive and the amount of oak is declining as he finds the right balance for his fruit. His Rieslings from Fronholz and Muenchberg are stunning.
Best vineyards
Fronholz
Heissenberg
Muenchberg (Grand Cru)
Schoffit
66-68 Nonnenholzweg, 68000 Colmar, France
Tel. (+33) 389-24 41 14
Pretty, elegant, charming wines. The Grand Crus are especially good, but even their wines from the flat "Harth" vineyard on the Rhine plain around Colmar have style and character. Riesling, Muscat, Tokay Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer from Clos Saint-Théobald in the Grand Cru Rangen vineyard are uniformly superb.
Best vineyards
Harth
Rangen "Clos Saint-Théobald" (Grand Cru)
Trimbach
15 route de Bergheim, 68150 Ribeauvillé, France
Phone (+33) 389-73-60-30
A large and well-known estate that maintains very high quality standards. Even the inexpensive blended wines are reliable values. The top wines are stunning and long-lived. Trimbach owns Grand Cru vineyards but does not use the vineyard names, preferring to use the names of their traditional lieux-dits.
Best Rieslings
Riesling Clos Ste-Hune (lieu-dit in Grand Cru Rosacker)
Riesling Cuvée Fréderic Émile (from Grands Crus Osterberg & Geisberg)
Domaine Weinbach
Clos des Capucins, 68240 Kaysersberg, France
Phone (+33) 389-47-13-21
Superb wines from Madame Colette Faller and her two daughters, Cathérine and Laurence The wines are tightly knit with a focused structure that brings out the soil of the vineyards. Riesling at its very best. For our complete estate review, see the September/October 2000 issue of the Riesling Report electronic magazine.
Best Rieslings
Riesling Cuvée Théo (from the lieu-dit Clos des Capucins)
Riesling Schlossberg (Grand Cru)
Riesling Schlossberg Cuvée Ste-Cathérine
Zind-Humbrecht
34 rue Maréchal-Joffre, 68000 Wintzenheim, France
Phone (+33) 389-27-02-05
A great and legendary wine estate that is equal in quality to Weinbach but makes wine in a completely different style. The wines here are massive, flamboyant masterpieces of fanatical vineyard and cellar work. They are also quite expensive and hard to find.
Best Vineyards
Clos St.-Urbain, Rangen (Grand Cru)
Clos Windsbuhl
Clos Jebsal
Brand (Grand Cru)
Goldert (Grand Cru)
Hengst (Grand Cru)
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