Le Blanc 2023 - Domaine Pierre Weber
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Le Blanc 2023 - Domaine Pierre Weber
Riesling · Alsace, France · 75cl
Pickup available at 3 Cornmarket Street
Usually ready in 2-4 days
One hundred percent Riesling, forty percent from Grand Cru Eichberg, vines around sixty years old on argilo-calcaire soils at around 350 metres. Three days of whole-cluster maceration before pressing, not enough to produce orange-wine colour, but some texture, then eleven months on the fine lees in old barriques.
Bold aromatics of quinine, lemon curd, and spice, we find a cavernous minerality on the palate, with the acidity well integrated and the citrus and floral character of old-vine Riesling on limestone.
The producer
Pierre returned to his grandfather's estate in Husseren-les-Châteaux in 2018, leaving life as an environmental engineer in Paris behind when the yearning to return home to the vines could be ignored no longer. The estate covers four hectares on the hills of Husseren-les-Chateaux, with a hectare on the Grand Cru Eichberg. Most of the vines were planted between 1960 and 1970, and sit at a slightly higher elevation than the rest of Alsace, giving Pierre's wines their unmistakable cool freshness. Pierre's work in the vines draws on the influence of his grandfather and his father, the oenologist Jacques Weber, and he takes the effort and expense of having his work certified Bio and Demeter. Working from his meticulously kept cellar, Pierre’s wines are among the very best coming out of Alsace with their definitive character - mountain wine freshness and the ripe core of Alsace grown fruit.
The place
Follow the routes de vins d’Alsace south from Colmar, through Eguisheim, and the you’ll find Hussren-les-chateaux in your sight. It’s commanding hillside position sits at the foot of the Stauffen massif, below the three hilltop castles for which the village is named. This position in significant, these are the highest vineyards in Alsace, at about 350masl, with views all the way across to the Black forest on a clear day. With 2 grand crus(Eichberg is the one more relevant to Pierre’s work) that have been noted for the quality of their wines since the middle ages, the village is today home to a thriving winemaking movement sparked by Bruno Schueller. The microclimate here distinguishes the villages wines from elsewhere in Alsace, particularly the Pinot Noir which is well suited to the cooler nights of these elevated hillsides. The limestone of Eichberg shines in Pierres wines, bringing a chiselled detail and fine structure that keeps the fruit feeling fresh.
Grapes: Riesling
Region: Husseren-les-Châteaux, Alsace, France