WINEMAKING
From grape to glass
The grapes are grown at Riquewihr and Rouffach. Alsace is a region that is particularly well suited to viticulture because of its ideal climate. A mosaic of more than twenty different soil types enable numerous different grape varieties to be cultivated.
VARIETIES
Riesling 35.8 %, Gewurztraminer 29.4 %, Pinot Gris 23.5 %, Pinot Noir 5.5 %, Muscat 4.3 %,
VINEYARD MANAGEMENT
The average age of the vines is 25 years. They are short pruned, reduced to 7 or 9 bunches in order to control yields. Vegetative cover is sown every other row to encourage the vines to plunge their roots deep into the subsoils and to produce smaller berries rich in sugars and with thicker skins. It also helps to combat erosion in more steeply sloping plots.
For replanting, large numbers of individual plants from the respective vineyards are produced by phenotypic selection rather than by cloning from a single parent plant.
This encourages genetic diversity in the vines and the production of smaller grapes. It also creates wines of greater complexity. Regular controls are carried out in the period just before harvest for the earlier ripening parcels to determine exactly the right moment for picking.
THE HARVEST
The grapes are picked by hand, sorted and selected by quality and terroir. They are then transported to the cellar in small tubs called bottiches, filled only half-full to maintain the integrity of the grapes before they are pressed.
PRESSING
The grapes are pressed as gently as possible in pneumatic presses.FERMENTATION
At controlled temperatures in thermo-regulated stainless-steel vats. The wine is then matured on lees for several months before being drawn off and Kieselguhr filtered (diatomaceous earth).