Alsace

157 Pinot Blanc AC 2008
Domaine Léon Boesch

Grape:50% Pinot Blanc, 50% Pinot Auxerrois (12.5% alc, 0.1 g/l of rs)

Bio-dynamic viticulture here for eastfacing vines on sandstone and clay. It has a mountain stream’s freshness and purity, with clear cut, zesty fruit. For drinking now to 2011.

Click here for technical information about this wine

158 Muscat AC 2009
Domaine Dirler-Cadé

Grape:90% Muscat Ottonel, 10% Muscat d’Alsace (11.5% alc, 5g/l of rs)

This is declassified Saering grand cru from juice not quite concentrated enough for the grand cru wine. Lovely aromatic lift to the aromas of citrus fruit and mint, followed by a silky delicacy and ethereal quality on the palate. The perfect aperitif. For drinking now to 2011.

Click here for technical information about this wine

159 Muscat Saering Grand Cru AC 2004
Domaine Dirler-Cadé

Grape:90% Muscat Ottonel, 10% Muscat d’Alsace (13.5% alc, 1g/l of rs)

The 34 year old vines give naturally richer fruit than the village muscat. Exquisitely balanced with citrus fruits, hints of verveine and mint and a characteristic sapid, saline note on the finish. For drinking now to 2020+.

Click here for technical information about this wine

160 Muscat Altenberg de Bergbieten Grand Cru AC 2005
Domaine Fréderic Mochel

Grape:100% Muscat Ottonel (13% alc, 7g/l of rs)

This comes from 30 year old vines and is a richer, bigger structured wine than the village wine. It is a long keeper – the 1988 was outstanding in late 2005! Once the wine gets beyond 6 years it takes an altogether different guise, revealing layers of complexity that make it one of France’s finest, most surprising and under-rated grape varieties. For drinking now to 2020+.

Click here for technical information about this wine

*New* 161 Pinot Noir AC 2007 Tradition
Domaine Leon Boesch

Grape:100% Pinot Noir (12% alc.)

30 year old vines here (and 50 hectos per hectare) produce this delicious pinot noir which is well balanced with crunchy red fruits, well integrated oak and fine tannins. For drinking now to 2012.

Click here for technical information about this wine

162 Pinot Gris AC 2008
Domaine André Thomas

Grape:100% Pinot Gris (13.5% alc, 10g/l of rs)

Aromas fairly leap out of the glass. It’s a rich yet restrained wine with pear, apples and exotic fruit flavours with a hint of spice. For drinking now to 2011.

Click here for technical information about this wine

163 Pinot Gris AC 2007
Domaine Fréderic Mochel

Grape:100% Pinot Gris (13% alc, 10g/l of rs)

30 year old vines sited to the north and east of Bergbieten produce this textbook pinot gris – which is clean and very spicy with a touch of limestone minerality. For drinking now to 2011.

Click here for technical information about this wine

164 Pinot Gris AC 2004 Réserve
Domaine Dirler-Cadé

Grape:100% Pinot Gris (13.5% alc, 7g/l of rs)

Pinot Gris has the potential to be a big success story for Alsace but too often the grape sugars and alcohol spike up a little high. This very well balanced example shows how well it can be done. Offering citrus fruits, peach and spice, it is sapid and zesty, aided by a zip of acidity from limestone. For drinking now to 2011.

Click here for technical information about this wine

*New* 165 Pinot Gris AC 2007 Schimberg
Domaine Dirler-Cadé

Grape:100% Pinot Gris (13.5% alc, 6g/l of rs)

A very good terroir here, with decomposed sandstone and volcanic schists, on a steep west facing hillside. This is a pinot gris with exceptional balance, low residual, attractive typically smoky fruit on the nose and spicy peach fruit on the palate. For drinking now to 2013.

Click here for technical information about this wine

166 Pinot Gris Kessler Grand Cru AC 2007
Domaine Dirler-Cadé

Grape:100% Pinot Gris (14% alc, 14g/l of rs)

Kessler is a steep, well-sheltered south-east facing vineyard on a bedrock of sandstone well suited to growing pinot gris. 2004 helped restrain the normal power of pinot gris and the wine offers a rich fruit with smoky notes, ginger and praline, and a stony, mineral undertone. For drinking now to 2014.

Click here for technical information about this wine

167 Riesling AC 2008
Domaine Léon Boesch

Grape:100% Riesling (12% alc, 2.2g/l of rs)

South-facing, bio-dynamically tended vines on a limestone-clay soil, produce this beautifully textured wine, with nicely fleshed out citrus fruits and real persistence. For drinking now to 2012.

Click here for technical information about this wine

168 Riesling AC 2008 Luss
Domaine Léon Boesch

Grape:100% Riesling (12.5% alc, 5.2g/l of rs)

25 year old bio-dynamic vines in a limestone soil give this delicious wine, whose ripe citrus fruits (hints of mandarin and apricot) are cosseted by a delicate acidity with a saline hint on the long finish. For drinking now to 2012.

Click here for technical information about this wine

169 Riesling AC 2007
Domaine Fréderic Mochel

Grape:100% Riesling (12.5% alc, 4g/l of rs)

This stands out from the crowd of village rieslings as it comes from younger vines of the grand cru Altenberg de Bergbieten. It’s a wine of some substance with a good weight of appley, peachy fruit. For drinking now to 2012.

Click here for technical information about this wine

170 Riesling Altenberg de Bergbieten Grand Cru AC 2004
Domaine Fréderic Mochel

Grape:100% Riesling (13% alc, 3g/l of rs)

Mochel’s grand cru comes from vines planted high up on the hillside and closer to the rock. It has a sumptuous concentration, is bone dry with great purity of fruit, and real terroir identity. For drinking now to 2014+.

Click here for technical information about this wine

171 Riesling Saering Grand Cru AC 2007
Domaine Dirler-Cadé

Grape:100% Riesling (13% alc, 3g/l of rs)

The 20 year old bio-dynamically tended vines are planted to the west of Saering near Kitterlé with a south-east aspect in a sandy marl with limestone deep below. The wine has a beautiful colour with greeny glints, and the nose is restrained and mineral. The palate is mouthwateringly pure and sapid with lemon and lime-zest, a hint of ginger and spice, and a saline note on a finish that keeps on going. For drinking now to 2020.

Click here for technical information about this wine

172 Riesling Osterberg Grand Cru AC 2005
Domaine André Kientzler

Grape:100% Riesling (13% alc, 3g/l of rs)

Kientzler crafts this very good wine from 40 year old vines in a marl, limestone and clay soil on a gentle hillside just to the north of Geisberg. It has a precise, elegant nose, cool dry fruit with great balance and mouthfeel. For drinking now to 2020.

Click here for technical information about this wine

173 Riesling Geisberg Grand Cru AC 2004
Domaine André Kientzler

Grape:100% Riesling (13% alc, 3g/l of rs)

This exceptional wine comes from 40-50 year old vines on the dramatically steep, terraced and walled clos of Geisberg. It has rich fruit, is densely structured but as ever bone dry, with intense, mineral flavours. For drinking now to 2024.

Click here for technical information about this wine

174 Gewurztraminer AC 2008
Domaine Léon Boesch

Grape:100% Gewurztraminer (13.5% alc, 15g/l of rs)

Boesch’s Gewurztraminer shows the brilliant side of this grape when it is restrained by a refreshing acidity. It beguiles with its rose, blackcurrant and red fruit aromas, has good weight but with snap and verve on the palate, and a gently spicy finish. For drinking now to 2012.

Click here for technical information about this wine

175 Gewurztraminer AC 2009
Domaine André Thomas

Grape:100% Gewurztraminer (13.5% alc, 18g/l of rs)

The aromas and tastes of this exceptional wine combine ripe mangoes, jasmine tea, lychees, flowers and rose water. Exotic with a capital E! For drinking now to 2012.

Click here for technical information about this wine

176 Gewurztraminer AC 2007 Bux
Domaine Dirler-Cadé

Grape:100% Gewurztraminer (14% alc, 20g/l of rs)

Bux is a vineyard planted just below the grand cru of Spiegel. This is excellent gewurztraminer with typical aroma of rose petal and spice but nicely controlled, with an old vine depth of fruit and welcome acidity. For drinking now to 2013.

Click here for technical information about this wine

177 Gewurztraminer Saering Grand Cru AC 2005
Domaine Dirler-Cadé

Grape:100% Gewurztraminer (14% alc, 17g/l of rs)

The finesse and elegance typical of Saering help to rein in this exotic variety. Delicious orange peel, flowers, cumin and spice aromas and flavours are leavened by a well integrated acidity. For drinking now to 2015.

Click here for technical information about this wine

*New* 178 Crémant d’Alsace AC Brut
Domaine Dirler-Cadé

Grape:40% Pinot Gris, 40% Pinot Auxerrois, 20% Pinot Noir (12.5% alc.)

An excellent dry (dosage of 5g/l) sparkling wine from the 2007 vintage made by the méthode champenoise. Zesty and sapid with a delicate fruit, this makes for excellent party fizz and real value alternative to champagne.

Click here for technical information about this wine

Alsace

Dirler-Cadé are one of Alsace’s leading domaines making brilliant, tightly structured wines. Based in Bergholtz in the southern half of Alsace south of Colmar, the marriage of Jean Dirler and Ludivine Cadé and the union of the two domaines practically doubled the size to the current 17 hectares. They were early convertees to biodynamic viticulture back in 1998 (now certified ‘Biodyvin’).They have a fine cluster of grand crus near Guebwiller but we have largely sided with Saering which gives bracingly pure, mineral, elegant wines. The terroir here slipped down the hillside from the grand cru Kessler millions of years ago and extends like a peninsula over the plain forming the shape of a ring. The vines are planted on a gentle slope with a south-east aspect and the soil is a complex mix of marl, sandstone with limestone at depth. The wines here retain a beautiful freshness and acidity, thanks to the limestone, and don’t have the power and weight of Kessler higher up the hillside. Because the soil in Saering is deep and rich, the vines are slightly more vigorous and according to Jean you find this in the energy of the wines.

The 13 hectare Domaine Léon Boesch is run by Mathieu Boesch and his parents in Soultzmatt at the southern end of Alsace (4km north of Dirler-Cadé). The vines have been tended biodynamically since 1999 and finally qualified for Demeter status in 2008. Yeasts are indigenous and in 2007 70% of the malolactic fermentations occurred spontaneously rather than being blocked with sulphur post fermentation. Mathieu believes there is a better exchange between the fine lees and wine without the interraction of sulphur. The wines are very clean with terrific fruit, texture, tension, minerality and length.

Fréderic and Guillaume Mochel have ten hectares of vines near Traenheim in the Bas-Rhin, 50 km to the north of Thomas’ vineyards in Ammerschwihr. The Mochels vinify dry as they consider this style of wine goes much better with food, and the slightly cooler northern climate helps in this respect. Their best wines are from the grand cru hillside of Altenberg de Bergbieten with soils over marls, limestones and dolomites which add extra complexity to the wines.

François Thomas’ wines are ripe with good fruit and terroir definition, a nice fresh balancing acidity, with neither too much alcohol or residual sugar. His work in the vineyard is meticulous – all his wines are certified organic and he even uses a horse to plough between the vine rows on the steep hillside of Kaefferkopf.

André Kientzler’s riesling Geisberg is one of the best sited vineyards in the whole of Alsace. A walled clos on a steep south facing hillside calling for acrobatic skills from the vigneron, the soils are a mix of limestone, marl and sandstone. Almost painfully mineral and taut in its youth, Geisberg ages magnificently for 25 years and more.