We are pleased to announce the launch of our new PRIMEUR 2022 campaign. The primeur sales are an opportunity to access preferential rates on all our Grands Vins de Terroirs thanks to a differential of about 30% below the official rate at the time of their delivery. By buying in primeur, you can be sure of having access to an allocation of our rarest vintages. More than a reservation, it is the possibility of committing yourself with us to excellence and fine wines and to weave together a bond of trust.
Dear Friends, Dear Customers,
Every spring, as part of an ever-renewed ritual, we come back to you to inform you of the state of the previous vintage presented for sale at the Primeur. Once again this year, this tradition, which began so long ago that the statute of limitations has now expired, continues: it concerns the 2022 vintage in its entirety. Enclosed you'll find the tasting notes, painstakingly drawn up at the very moment when the 2023 vintage is finally blooming in glorious sunshine. We had a difficult spring this year: wet, cold and windy, delaying vine growth and making the soils difficult to work. It took us almost five weeks to find four days of dry soil to plant a majestic new parcel in the heart of the Schoenenbourg Grand Cru, a beautiful square of Burlenberg, a large red parcel on the granite of St Hippolyte. It's only in the last few days that the weather has unexpectedly shifted towards an early summer, towards the first signs of a heatwave. However, we're hoping for more climatic breaks this year than in 2022, with some cooler, shadier periods and a clearly later profile. 2022 bore witness to the new Alsatian climate, stable, warm, southern, almost immobilized under a scorching sun that lingered until the end of October. For the first time, we experienced 4 successive heatwaves, which took their toll on our teams and vineyards. Of course, working in comfortable conditions with no fungal diseases or ripening problems, and harvesting in a t-shirt, which is now almost the norm, is rather pleasant. But there's a downside to every medal: vinifying grapes that have been waiting for weeks in the intense heat to be picked is not easy. Some wines have not yet finished fermentation and still have some way to go. And it's safe to say that 2022 will be a year of long, patient ageing. We mustn't bottle the wines too early, but let them slowly exhaust their sugar. And let them complete their development and, above all, fill themselves with the singular balance that the great wines of heatwave years possess. Objects that are always out of the ordinary. So, as last year, tasting for you will remain the absolute judge of our work, for exactly the opposite reasons. Because of the above, it must absolutely include a forward-looking dimension that only intuitive, tactile practice can provide. A real Gourmet's job! It's this analysis that confirms that the general level is magical, that many things still dispersed are capable of coming together, and above all, that we are witnessing the clear victory of matter over fermentative, fleeting, ephemeral aromas: you'll see each vintage in its fullest transparency. It's obvious that not all terroirs are equal in the face of such climatic excess: it's obviously the clay-limestone terroirs, the deep marls and the water-storing gypsum that are pulling the strings and dominating the cellar head and shoulders! The primeur campaign is always an important moment in our work, a time for reunion. It's a time for sharing the results of the previous year. We're confident that once again you won't be disappointed by our great Alsatian Climats (*), served up with absolute commitment to quality. We'd like to take this opportunity to announce that this spring, the circle of climats we serve was enlarged by the addition of parcels from the Grand Cru Zinnkoepfle in Soultzmatt, and two lesser-known but very high-quality crus from Westhalten: Steinstuck and Schlossleberg. Let's bet that in a few years they'll join the magnificent series of new Domaine labels, those unforgettable mental landscapes perceived in Noir and Ferveur.
Jean-Michel Deiss
(*) Editor's note: Unlike a Lieu-Dit or, alas, even in Alsace generally a Grand Cru, a "Climat" is a precisely delineated Place which confers the same original character on the wine produced each year. This wine, the perfect expression of the Lieu in terms of mouthfeel and mental color, can therefore only be Unique. That's why we only produce one wine per Climat ..... !