A Deep Dive into Alsatian Riesling
We, understandably, don’t have a lot of Christmas in Turkey. I try to go somewhere in Europe every year for a Christmas market and had planned a trip for Colmar…then COVID struck. At the end of 2022 though, I finally got to go. I’d been to Strasbourg years ago while studying in nearby Tübingen but wanted to see the picturesque city that inspired Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Throw in Germanic Christmas traditions and a whole lot of wine and how could it have been anything other than marvelous?
Our first stop was a deep dive tasting in Alsatian Riesling at the Le Cercle des Aromes wine bar. Weird place…weird. BUT the service and the tasting we had were fantastic. And, while it taught us that the majority of Alsatian Riesling was not to our taste, we discovered several that left us wowed. Now, get yourself ready for a really really long post of all those wines in honor of Riesling Day!
Hubert Metz Alsace Grand Cru, 2017
Domaine Celine Metz / Hubert Metz has been going strong for seven generations now, the most recent handover going from Hubert Metz to his daughter Céline. And now, after years of work in sustainable production, 2021 marked a turning point for the domaine’s first official organic certification.
Made while still under Hubert’s command, the 2017 Grand Cru Riesling marked a powerful vintage. At just five years old, the wine was still in its first blush of youth but showed the promise it has for additional ageing. White fruit, especially white peach, honeycomb, gunpowder, and hints of petrol with bright acidity that melted away into a soft mouthfeel.
Domaine Paul Blanck Schlossberg, 2017
A commitment to nature preservation is among the tenets of Domaine Paul Blanck. You won’t find any fertilizers here but you will find grass growing between alternate rows in the vineyard. Plowed under several times a year, the grass helps develop the soil’s organic life.
After the Alsace AOC was created, the terraced vineyard of Schlossberg with its granite, marl, and limestone soils was the first declared a “Grand Cru” in 1975. Domain Paul Blanck allows its Schlossberg grapes to ferment with native yeasts in stainless steel vats then age for 12 months on the lees with regular battonage. After bottling, wine ages an additional two to three years before going to market.
Green apple peel, white flowers, tea, honeycomb, and mineral on a soft but textured, almost tannic palate with lively acidity.
Domaine Louis Sipp Grand Cru Kirchberg de Ribeauville, 2016
I love the origin story behind Domaine Louis Sipp. One of the more recently established wineries in the Alsace, Louis Sipp got its start the end of the First World War when Lousie Sipp acquired the family’s first plots while her husband Louis (seriously what are the chances of a Louise and a Louis finding each other?) was away fighting on the Russian Front. She was clearly a marvel. In 2000, three generations in, the family began converting all their vineyards to organic farming. In 2003, they move to integrated production (under the TYFLO certification) and in 2005 were awarded the ECOCERT organic certification.
The Grand Cru Kirchberg de Ribeauville is made up of steep slopes at an altitude of 270 to 350 meters with top soils rich in clay and often very stony over sandstone and gypsum marl with a substratum of dolomite. Louis Sipp’s vines here are, on average, about 30 years old with deeply penetrating roots. 
Something told me even before arriving in the Alsace that I was going to like Louis Sipp’s wines and boy howdy. This was a dense wine with a sense of fattiness like coconut cream, with white flowers, rich white flesh fruit, lime, and lemongrass wrapped around an mineral core.
Domaine Louis Sipp Grand Cru Osterberg, 2012
Our second wine from Louis Sipp came from the Grand Cru Osterberg. An east-facing vineyard with less sun than Kirchberg, the soils at Osterberg are clay rich over marl, chalk, and dolomite and have great water storage capacity. Louis Sipp has vines in both the deep and marly soils of the east as well as in the stony part in the west on the Grand Cru.
This was definitely a wine that was the sum of its parts with all the notes being subtle on their own, but giving an overall powerful impression of citrus, petrol, honeycomb, white fruits, and a saline minerality. Super textured on the palate with a long, ethereal finish.
Trimbach Cuvée Frédéric Emile, 2016
When talking about Alsacian wine, the name Maison F.E. Trimbach comes to a lot of minds. And rightly so, they’ve been making wine since 1626. Interestingly, the first Trimbachs arrived from Switzerland, not to make wine, but to work in the silver mines of Ste-Marie-aux-Mines. It was Jean Trimbach who left the mines for the vines in the early 1600s. Generations alter, Trimbach has earned its great reputation and is still in family hands with the latest generation making the leap to organic farming. In 2023, after 10 years of working on the conversion, all of Trimbach’s 60 hectares AND the grapes the purchase from 35 different growers were all certified organic. In order to increase the biodiversity of their vineyards, Trimbach plants trees (some fruit-bearing) and bushes in the vineyard, has installed bird nesting boxes, and pressed a flock of sheep into service.
The Cuvée Frédéric Emile blends together Riesling from two Grand Cru vineyards. Apparently, 2016 was a cool vintage and knowing that going in may have slightly influenced my perception of the wine. I didn’t sense a lot of fruit here really but got a big impression of salty minerality, that way air smells when winter is on the way, and wet stones. Very dry, very linear. Loved it.
Trimbach Cuvée Frédéric Emile, 2011
I have to preface this one with a bit of a sad laugh. I read an article in Wine Spectator the other day in which a sommelier was quoted as suggesting Trimbach’s Cuvée Frédéric Emile as a more “economic” option for Alsatian Riesling. I have no idea what his salary is, but our definition of an economically priced wine are very different.
This wine I did not try as part of the tasting we booked, but bought while I was in Colmar and opened it on my birthday. We spent my birthday doing ridiculous food and wine pairings and so paired this 2011 Cuvée Frédéric Emile with jalepeño poppers (worked pretty well). Just a few years apart from the 2016 but oh so different! To begin, the color! A big wine that showed a savory character with hay and dried flowers details and blacked honey, smoky, and petrol notes around a core of yellow fruit and beeswax framed by firm acidity and a fattish palate.
What a wine.
Trimbach Grand Cru Geisburg, 2015
From the limestone and sandstone soils of Geisberg, this steep-sloping Grand Cru, full of old vines with southern exposure, is one of the smallest in Alsace. This wine, Trimbach fermented in large foundeaux (which is probably a redundant description). Another warm vintage, the 2015 showed a beautiful golden color with mead-like aromas of honey, flowers, and burnt marshmallow. If sunlight had a flavor it would taste like this wine, full of molten honey and a touch of petrol.
Loved.
Domaine Zind-Humbrecht Grand Cru Brand, 2013
Like Trimbach, Domaine Zind-Humbrecht has a multi-generation history stretching back to the 17th century. Since 1997, Domaine Zind Humbrecht has farmed its 42 hectares biodynamically. In the winery, they use slow fermentation, wines spend a minimum of six months on the lees, then are bottled between 12 and 24 months after the harvest.
For this vintage, Humbrecht used grapes only from their two oldest vineyards. Per their website, 2013 was largely hot and dry and the grapes got a lot of sun. Could definitely taste that in the overtly fruitiness of the wine. Apple, tangerine, citrus peel, honey, and white flowers framed by vivacious acidity. A saline minerality streak along with honeyed fruit lingered on a citrus finish. Really, really nice. 
Domaine Stentz Buecher Grand Cru Steingrübler, 2007
Our final wine at the Le Cercle des Aromes tasting was from Domaine Stentz Buecher. A young winery, founded in 1975, Domaine Stentz Buecher has been guided by an observation and love of nature from the beginning. They use no pesticides, fertilizers, or chemical or systemic products at any stags of production and have ECOCERT organic certification. The 2007 vintage we tried comes from their stony marl-limestone and clay-sandy soils in the Steingrübler Grand Cru where their vines grow at 280-350 meters and average 35 years of age (although I am unclear if they were 35 years old at the time of the 2007 vintage, or at the time I was told this…).
The profound depth of the wine belied the winery’s youth. It certainly tasted like generations of experience had a hand in this. Honeyed yellow and tropical fruits coated with marzipan and notes of hay and petrol filled the mouth with incredible richness, braced by vibrant and nervy acidity.
Absolutely beautiful.