Altenbourg Pinot Gris (VT)

Terroir :

The Altenbourg parcel lies just below the Furstentum Grand Cru vineyard, at 300m.
Its gentle slope is of calcareous clay, and it is one of the last remaining vestiges of the sub-Mediterranean era which Alsace experienced. It gives rich wines of finesse, elegance and body.
The aromatic profile of rose petal and vegetal or floral touches is classic.

Vinification :

The grapes are picked in an over-ripe state several weeks after the start of harvesting (minimum concentration 408 g/l of sugar).
The development of "noble rot" (Botrytis Cinerea) dries them out on the vine. The juice is delicately extracted in our air-bag press. The slow, gentle pressing avoids crushing the stalks and pips.
The fermentation proceeds at a controlled temperature in stainless-steel vats.
It gets under way of its own accord thanks to the natural yeast found on the grape skins. As for the Botrytis Cinerea, it concentrates the grapes' sugar levels (30 to 80 g/l of residual sugar) and acidity. The resulting sweet wine is rich and complex, with great ageing potential.

Elevage :

The wine is aged on its lees in large oak barrels for 12 months.
This lees-contact contributes richness to the wine. What is more, the oxygen which passes through the pores of the wood brings about a gentle oxidization of the wine, and the subsequent opening up of its aromas.
The wine is then bottled and aged for 4 to 5 more years before being put on sale.
After that it's up to you to enjoy it within the following 10 years, at the height of its aromatic freshness!

Dégustation :

Beautiful yellow-gold colour. Generous, colourful flashes, deep golden yellow and golden straw yellow.
The nose is exquisitely scented, langourously, sparingly giving off aromas of very ripe and even preserved fruit: peaches, nectarines, plums, .. and other superb scents,winey, balsamic and spicy: pollen, royal jelly, benjamin, mugwort.
The palate has a fleshy attack, savoury and thick, which fills out the mouth enveloping the wine's liveliness and vitality. There are lovely sappy, fruity and spicy aspects: grapes, white pepper, coriander, ... with great thickness and generosity, in a disciplined show of opulence.
Splendid, coherent substance, sumptuous in its gustative-olfactive-tactile spread.
A splendour, the hedonist's dream.
Tasted by C.I.D.D. Alain SEGELLE - July 2003.

Accords mets-vins :

A good wine for wine-tastings.
Obviously it benefits from being decanted.
Natural goose livers.

Press:

Mum gold . Rather odd aroma of ripe apple, with a hint of incipient oxidation. Supersweet and musky, with flavors of overripe apple.
Stephen Tanzer's - International Wine Cellar - November / December 2003.