2024 Marcel Deiss "Ribeauvillé" Blanc, Alsace, France

ABOUT THIS WINE

This wine comes from plots of land planted with grapes from the Marcel Deiss estate located in the Ribeauvillé area (Gruenspiel, Hagueneau, Weinbaum).The Muschelcalk limestone, the clay and the quaternary intercalations (sandstone and pebbles) deliver a tight, textured, dry wine of good thickness, mineral, initiating a sapid but horizontal, massive and very long salivation. The colours suggested are cold, stylised, and draw a landscape of great rigour but profound beauty. Ribeauvillé is built of mixed sedimentary and crystalline elements, Mulschelkalk limestone, marl and sandstone... It tells of this immemorial landscape and the faith of their respectful work in a sapid, tight and very long sap. Pressed with whole clusters and fermented using ambient yeast fermentation. Aged 12 months on lees.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

No one will argue that Deiss is among the top two or three domaines of Alsace. As to the rest, Jean-Michel Deiss is what the French call, a fouteur de merde, a shit-stirrer. After an old man on his deathbed entrusted him with one of Alsace's gems, the Schoenenbourg vineyard, Jean-Michel found that it was planted to an old field blend or “co-plantation.” He soon realized that this was the missing link in his quest for great wine and he replanted every single one of his top vineyards to such blends. Though this had once been the norm in Alsace, by the time Jean-Michel planted his grand crus to field blends, it was a technique reserved to lowly wines. Then, he took on the Alsatian cru system. Too many grand crus, and too large at that, but no premier crus was idiotic, he thought, and he self-appointed seven of his top vineyards “premier crus.” When you taste them, it makes crystalline sense, but this is technically an illegal practice and Jean-Michel has been battling the authorities ever since. His latest concern is to have ancient but currently illegal Alsatian varieties added to the list of authorized grapes. A troublemaker indeed, but the wines are absolutely magical.