Winemakers: Pierre Frick

Encompassing 12 hectares of diverse terroirs and expositions in the northern part of the Haut-Rhin, 12 generations of vineyard expertise, and over 50 years of organic farming, the domain Pierre Frick is symbolic of a re-turning towards nature and has served as an inspiration for countless more recent generation low-intervention winemakers in Alsace. One of the first wineries to be certified by Demeter (1981), the domain is amongst the pioneers of biodynamics in the winemaking world—an approach that is passionately continued by Jean-Pierre and Chantal Frick to this day.

Engaged, entertaining, and the humblest of hosts, sitting around the table with Chantal and Jean-Pierre is an unparalleled experience, where wine serves as the gateway to a plethora of stories and exchanges that have touched and enriched me at a profound level. A descent down into the cellar, and you find yourself dwarfed amidst a universe of vintage foudres lining corridors as far as the eye can see. The name “Frick” has perhaps for many become synonymous with the phrase “sans soufre”—the domain presenting wines without added sulfur since 1999—yet this is a simplification of what each cuvée actually embodies. With a few small exceptions, all wines are issued from grapes from a single respective plot, each representing a specific cépage on a select terroir. In the cellar, everything is aged on fine lees, a process that continues until Jean-Pierre and Chantal feel—or the wine signals to them—that it is ready to be bottled. Beginning in 2002, the Fricks made the decision to favor stainless steel bottle caps over traditional corks—a technique that has allowed them to facilitate a homogenous aging in bottle, and which has become a signature of the wines.

From an incredibly precise 2019 crémant and Jean-Pierre’s infamous herbal Riesling maceration to the velvety ripe Pinot Noir Rot Murlé and the euphorically light Pinot Gris Grand Cru Vorbourg, a selection of singular cuvées are here to transmit the energy of the domain to the West Coast.