Julien Schaal Riesling Grand Cru Sommerberg "Granite"

Alsace wine region has a unique combination of great soiltypes that form a real   'kaleidoscope" of geologies. Pink sandstone, blue schist, limestone, granite, gypsum and volcanic rocks are amongst the most interesting soiltypes.  We can find all of them on grand cru vineyards. We believe that Riesling is maybe the best variety to translate those characters into wines.

In 2011, Olivier Biecher and I have launched the winery exclusively dedicated to Alsace Grands Crus wines. From Andlau to Thann, we found numbers of interesting vineyards that all have strong individual character.

At the foot hills of the Vosges mountains, just below the Haut-Koenigsbourg castle, we have established our wine cellar in the village of Saint-Hippolyte.

All picked by hand, the grapes are carefully sorted and gently placed into the pneumatic press. A long pressing of a minimum of 12 hours is necessary to extract the best juice possible without pushing to far.

After decantation at low temperature, the juice starts a long alcoholic fermentation (wild yeast) that can take up to 4 months.

No sulfure is added before the next spring and this lets wine to open up as much as possible. The result is a wine with less sensitivity to oxydation and much more aromatic.