Technical presentation
| Bottling : | January 2023 |
|---|---|
| Acquired alcohol : | 12.6 ° |
| Residual sugar : | 0.6 g/l |
| Total acidity : | 4.3 g/l H2SO4 (6.5 g/l Tartrique) |
| pH : | 3.2 |
| Yield : | 15 hl/ha |
| Optimum tasting : | 2026/2039+ |
| Average age of vines : | 40 years |
| Terroir : | Rotenberg |
| Sweetness index : | 1 |
| Available for sale : | Yes |
| Soil : | Red limestone Oligociene period |
Description of the wine Pinot Gris Rotenberg 2021
The Rotenberg vineyard is located on the steep western/northwestern slope of the Grand Cru Hengst in Wintzenheim. The oligocen limestone is here very rich in iron, giving a distinctive red brick colour to the top soil, which is actually very thin as the mother rock is very close to the surface. This thin soil explains why yields are always low in the vineyard, any vintage. It is unfortunately the price to pay to produce Pinot-Gris wines that have character and taste without the help of over ripeness and botrytis. It is classically one of the Pinot-Gris that has the highest acidity on the domaine, and therefore one of the slowest to ferment. To be sure that the fermentation finishes with a dry wine, we have to do strict ripeness check-ups at harvest in order to pick the grapes at an ideal alcohol potential without of course compromising the phenolic ripeness. Bio-dynamic farming does allow for a faster skin ripeness which is of great help to avoid high alcoholic power with this grape variety. The 2021 vintage is a great example of this work !
Tasting notes
01/2023 : Intense yellow gold colour. Just like any wine from the same made on a similar geology, the Pinot-Gris shows a beautiful limestone mineral expression. The pallet is very dry, almost severe at first, at the same time very velvety and quite strict. It however opens up with time, showing some citrus fruits, honey, bee wax, white fruits. The finish is long, given a sense of a classic dry wine, not powerful but just elegant. Very enjoyable today ! The firm ripe acidity will allow this wine to age extremely well.
The Rotenberg of Wintzenheim
The Rotenberg is the summit of the hill whose south facing slopes make up the Grand Cru Hengst. The steep slopes of Rotenberg are west facing and look onto the Haut Landsbourg Chateau. The point where the slope turns towards the north is the start of a small lieu-dit called Hinterberg, within the Rotenberg.