Riesling 2017

---

Fruity, racy, dry and fine

Appellation,

Alsace

Locality:

Various locations around Ribeauvillé: Colmarer Weg, Ellenweier, Gruenspiel, Hagenau, Weinbaum, Sulz...

Type of soil:

The vineyards that gave this wine are located in the geological fracture zone of Ribeauvillé. They constitute a territory which is geologically highly fragmented. They are above areas with hard chalk, clay and marl from the Liassic and Triassic periods, sandstone clay, and calcareous, chalky conglomerates from the Oligocene period. The area is also characterised by silt-laden deposits, originally loessial, and by glacis and sandy alluvium in the valley and on the plain. Our plots growing RIESLING are situated in the sandy and stony alluvial deposits of the Colmarer Weg plain and on slopes composed of marl and chalk.

Wine character:

The nose is very expressive with grapefruit and tropical fruits flavours. Pure and fine expression of the Riesling. A dry typical Riesling, fruit-forward with a delicate freshness.

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 young goat cheese.
This Riesling can be aged. However it is now ready for drinking.

The 2017 vintage:

We had a relatively dry winter 2016-2017. The precipitations did not allow to regenerate the water resources of the soils. January was cold over a long period with temperatures down to -10°C. This was very positive for the structure of the soils.
Thanks to temperatures above average mid-March, the vines stated to grow quite early. Flowering went well. A nice summer reinforced the precocity of the vintage.
The key factors of the vintage are the small crops. This is related to a succession of problems that affected the production: frost, hail, drought (less than 250 mm rainfall from April to August), and finally wind. The addition of all these difficulties highly affected the yields. We had to face the smallest yields over decades.
The harvest started on September 7th in good conditions. The grapes were perfect. Thanks to ideal weather conditions it was possible to harvest each plot of the vineyard at the perfect moment without the pression of meteorological conditions.
The wines from 2017 are precise, elegant with a delicate but not invasive freshness. For sure a very nice vintage.