Crus et Lieux-Dits

HAGEL 2019




Basement of cristalline granit and gneiss from the Vosges - dry and straight forward.

GammeCrus & Lieux-dits
Caractère du vinSec
CépageRiesling
Millésime2019

Appellation:

Alsace

Locality:

Grapes coming exclusively from local soils of the Hagel located bellow the ruins of the 3 castles of Ribeauvillé.

Type of soil:

The Hagel vineyards are in the geological fracture zone of Ribeauvillé. The steep slopes are situated at the beginning of the valley behind Ribeauvillé on the oldest type of soils we can find on earth: gneiss from Precambrian era. Three major points are to be noticed concerning these terroirs: They are chilled by the fresh winds (Tahlwind) coming out of the valley down from the Vosges mountains during summer nights. This maintains the acidity level of the grapes giving nice structures to the resulting wines. The second point is related to the composition of the soils which gives the wines lot of finesse and rightness. Finally, these poor soils allow only very low yields giving concentrated wines.

Certified organic grapes for an enhanced terroir expression:

Started in 2005, our conversion to organic production took a concrete form three years later in 2008 with the ECOCERT certification. Since 2012, all the cellar operations are also covered by the European specification so that we can now speak about organic wines.

Wine character:

Very fine nose with notes of citrus and hints of minerality. On the palate, the wine is straight and vertical. The delicate acidity gives the wine a good length and an interesting ageing potential. Typical dry wine for the gastronomes.

Tips for consuming:

May be served with all dishes which require a dry white wine: crustaceans, shellfish, fish (grilled or served in sauce), white meat, and of course sauerkraut.
Wine to be appreciated immediately. A longer ageing period will lead to the formation of the typical mineral flavours of the Riesling.

The 2019 vintage:

This new vintage follows the very generous 2018 vintage which did not always allow the vines to build up reserves. With a dry Autumn 2018 and capricious weather conditions the start of the growth got very heterogeneous. The cold temperature end of April and beginning of May did not improve the situation either and induced very slow growth of the vegetation. Some heavy rains in June, followed by extreme temperatures in July added more stress to the vines.
However, the harvest could start on September 12th and lasted until October 15th. The conditions were not stable at all with hot days and cooler ones. Luckily no heavy precipitations occurred.
Finally, we harvested nice and ripe grapes with great balance.