2011 Marcel Deiss Altenberg de Bergheim Grand Cru

Marcel Deiss - the undisputed guru in the field of field blends from Alsace. Jean-Michel Deiss is a special, idiosyncratic winemaker who makes exceptional wines. Biodynamics and terroir expression go hand in hand and "The vineyard comes before the grape variety", is his firm belief and this Altenberg de Bergheim Grandcru is the extreme example of a field blend. A very old vineyard where all the traditional grape varieties from Alsace are found and from this icon is made.

Terroir as conductor is how they describe the Altenberg de Bergheim Grand Cru. The wine has an impressive color - ochre yellow, chocolate reflections, sunset. With your eyes closed, the nose has some aromas of red wine (!), dense and filling, juicy hint of cedar, gradually going up to melon, peach and mandarin, candied lemon, finally honey. Glorious aromatic finish. Can drink for itself. But this sweet wine goes perfectly with foie gras.

The Altenberg de Bergheim Grand Cru is without a doubt the most concentrated Altenberg where acidity plays the most central role. Altenberg was the first great terroir of Alsace (of modern times), which saw the recognition in 2005 of its specific typicity, its particular production conditions, the diversity of its grape varieties (all AOC Alsace grape varieties used in precise proportions) and the richness of its harvest, with an unparalleled regularity therefore an official Grand Cru. The return to the ancestral practice of a vineyard planted with all the traditional grape varieties and a single, unsorted harvest opens the Pandora's box of the "Grand Vin" for Altenberg: the terroir becomes the conductor that controls and inspires all the players (rootstock and grape varieties, all the conditions of the vintage and even the winegrower!) in the service of a single score: the pure expression of the terroir, the balanced symphony of the Grand Vin. This synthetic wine then revives the ancient Alsatian tradition of wines to lie down and travel, which during the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and until the end of the 13th century made possible the gigantic cultural effort of the Rhine of which modern Alsace is the result.

A CLIMATE.
This majestic terroir is located in the heart of a field that combines hard Jurassic limestone and Lias marl. These fossil-rich formations have formed a poor, red (ferrous) clay-limestone soil, rich in limestone rocks where the vine must dive deep to find its energy. The microclimate of the Altenberg, the result of its southern location, its distance from the Vosges front and its isolation from the Rhine plain, is terribly hot, dry and almost overexposed. The ripeness of the grapes, often enhanced by Noble Rot, is unusual and imposes the dominance of the terroir on the grape varieties planted.

ABOUT MARCEL DEISS

Domaine Marcel Deiss is one of the best producers in Alsace. The house was founded in 1947, but the history of the Deiss family in wine growing goes back much further. The current owner and winemaker, Jean-Michel Deiss, very explicitly opts for a terroir philosophy. About 40 years ago he changed course to completely choose his own path in the wine market that was then focused on grape varieties. According to him, this way of wine growing, in which entire hectares of vineyard are planted with a single grape variety, results in characterless wines and unhealthy vineyards. The trick is to capture the enormous diversity of this special wine region, with all its subclimates and soil compositions, in the wines. “The vineyard comes before the grape variety”, is his firm conviction....................... Read more under the Tab/Link: Winery

VINEYARD ALTENBERG