Alsace Gewurztraminer Sélection de Grains Nobles Grand Cru Altenberg de Bergheim Marcel Deiss (Domaine) 1999

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Alsace Gewurztraminer Sélection de Grains Nobles Grand Cru Altenberg de Bergheim Marcel Deiss (Domaine) 1999

La «cuvée»

Sitting in the geological faultline of Ribeauvillé, this terroir is rich in limestone and shale-marl. Its south-facing aspect and warm microclimate give the fruit an exceptional richness and flavour concentration. The resulting wine is rich and powerful but with a biting fresh acidity. The bouquet blooms with exotic fruit, citrus and earthy notes of honey and vanilla. This cuvée is made for cellaring (with an ageing potential of up to 30 years), it is ideally paired with poularde au miel –chicken roasted in honey and lemon – or fruit desserts.

Jean-Michel Deiss, (the son of Marcel Deiss, who established the property in 1949) currently manages the 27 hectares of vines, which are planted on some of Alsace's finest terroirs, including the grand cru Altenburg de Bergheim. Jean-Michel Deiss grows his vines according to biodynamic principles, a philosophy that prohibits any form of chemical treatment and combines an understanding of cosmic rhythms with work on the soil and the vines. The objective? To encourage the vines to develop as deep a root system as possible in the subsoil, thereby giving full expression to the terroir. Despite being an acknowledged master of the art of making single varietal wines such as Pinot Gris and Riesling, this exceptional winegrower has waged a veritable campaign against the traditional Alsace approach of regarding the grape variety as the essence of the wine, and granting negligible importance to the terroir. Thus he has reintroduced ancestral practices such as mixed planting of all of the traditional varieties (Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris) on the same plot, with no sorting at the harvest. The terroir then comes to the forefront, free to fully express itself without the omnipresent constraint of a single variety. After years of campaigning, Jean-Michel Deiss finally succeeded in obtaining authorisation for the application of the terms "Grand Cru" and "Premier Cru" (previously reserved for traditional cuvées) to these "vins de terroir". The names of the grape varieties have not appeared on the labels since 2005. . His son, Matthieu Deiss, who also owns Vignoble du Rêveur has taken over the reins.
More information : Read the article about domain Marcel Deiss on the blog