Country: France
Region: Wolxheim, Alsace
Appellation: Appellation Alsace Contrôlée
Grape variety: 100% Gewurztraminer
Style: White
ABV: 14.5% by vol.
Yield: 25ha/hl
Terroir: Shell limestone
Average age of vines: 35+ years
Farming: Dry-farmed, Fukuoka method. Complete non-working of the soils. Certified organic.
Harvest: By hand
Vinification: Direct press of select whole clusters using gentle pneumatic press. Spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts. No fining. No filtration.
Aging: 11+ months in Alsatian foudre
Sulfur added: 15mg/L during racking prior to bottling
Notes: The Muschelkalk—German for shell-bearing limestone—is a sequence of sedimentary rock strata stretching through central and western Europe. This Middle Triassic (240 to 230 million years) deposit, originally formed in a land-locked sea, and its lenticular banks contain a plethora of fossil shells found on the surface or subsurface. The vines of this particular plot, like many of the domain, are surrounded by woodland; thus Bruno terms it “the marine within the forest.”
Dried apricot and floral nose. Intense, vibrating acidity with salivating salinity and ripe tropical fruit notes. The higher alcohol level is livened up by a touch of CO2 upon opening; slight residual sugar (8.4g/L) makes for excellent food pairings.