Lot presentation

Riesling Vendanges Tardives Marcel Deiss (Domaine) Altenberg de Bergheim 1996

The wine

The grapes reach maturity halfway between the harvest, in mid-October. The grapes are sorted once, in order to select those which have been affected by noble rot. Chaptalization is forbidden, and the grapes must be harvested by hand. The level of sugar not converted into alcohol is around 40-60 g:l. The wine has wonderful elegance. The nose gives off notes of candied lemon, dried fruits such as almond and stone fruits. On the palate, it is consistently fresh and silky, allowing for superb pairings with poultry in sauce.

About the Producer Marcel Deiss

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. More information : Read the article about domain Marcel Deiss on the blog

Detailed characteristics