Technical presentation
| Bottling : | January 2025 |
|---|---|
| Acquired alcohol : | 12.3° |
| Residual sugar : | 0.6 g/l |
| Total acidity : | 4.3 g/l H2SO4 (6.6 g/l Acide Tartrique) |
| pH : | 03.04 |
| Yield : | 52.0 hl/ha |
| Optimum tasting : | 2026-2040+ |
| Average age of vines : | 42 years |
| Grape variety : | Pinot Gris |
| Terroir : | Rotenberg |
| Sweetness index : | 1 |
| Soil : | Red limestone Oligociene period, West North West facing |
Description of the wine Pinot Gris Rotenberg 2023
The Rotenberg is located on the north-west face of the Grand-Cru Hengst on steep slopes and a limestone bedrock from the Oligocene period. Very rich in iron, the red soil gave its name to this place. The cracked mother rock is covered by a very thin layer of earth. It is a soil that is not very fertile but allows for a regular growth. Enjoying late sunshine in the morning and is under the shade of the Vosges early in the evening, it is therefore a late ripening vineyard, which has adopted the grape varieties of the Pinots family that need to be slowed down in their ripening process. The Rotenberg is not very prone to disease (except for some powdery mildew near the forest), and with climate change requiring earlier harvests, we no longer find noble rot development (this used to be a great SGN vineyard in the past). The grapes are healthy, still have remarkable acidity and above all have the capacity to ferment until the end, even if it can take time as in 2023.
Tasting notes
01/2025: bright pale-yellow colour. When opened, the wine shows a slight complex reduction on the nose that comes from a long ageing on lees. These aromas are in fact a guarantee of a freshness and youth that we find on the palate. After a short aeration, the aromas of ripe fruit take over with notes of beautiful vanilla (no new oak!) and spices. This is a wine that may seem austere at first sip, but quickly enchants with its great drinkability and complexity. The acidity is remarkable on this wine. It gives a crystalline structure and gives a sensation of great purity, often described as Riesling like!. Like many Pinot-Gris in 2023, we are in the presence of an elegant and precise wine, capable of impressing with moderate power. Very nice evolution in sight.
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.