Meet the producer: Jean-Pierre Rietsch
Initially a mixed farm with crops including tobacco, the land has been in the family for seven generations. Jean-Pierre’s parents started cultivating vines in the 1970s, and passed it to Jean-Pierre in 1987. Organic farming with no use of chemicals. In the cellar, very little sulphur is used, and only when necessary. There is a precision and clarity to all the wines. Having become bored with making late-harvest wines with aromatic varieties; Jean-Pierre is one of few in his area to experiment with skin-contact wines and has gained a reputation for these.
VINS D’ALSACE RIETSCH
DOMAINE
Vins d’Alsace Rietsch
WINEMAKER
Jean-Pierre Rietsch
VINEYARD
12ha, organic (certified)
COUNTRY, REGION, SUBREGION
France, Alsace, Mittelbergheim
The Rietsch estate has been in the family for seven generations; the land was previously used for tobacco and crops. It was Jean-Pierre’s parents who started cultivating vines in 1970s and handed them on to JP in 1987. The domaine is still very much driven by a family-led culture. Vines are raised naturally, with terroir at the heart of the operation and no use of chemicals. Sulphur is very rarely used in the cellar, only when absolutely necessary.
Wines are made with a low-pressure pneumatic press for a gentle extraction, with a slow fermentations and always indigenous yeasts. Having grown weary of teasing late-harvest, off-dry wines from his more aromatic grape varieties, Jean-Pierre was one of the first growers in the Alsace to experiment with macerating them.
Special stuff. Lively, saline, lemony and mineral. Opening the oven to re-heated brioche from the shop on the corner, getting all your jars of preserved lemons out on the counter, lilies in the window
Style: Still
Producer: JP Rietsch
Country: France
Region: Mittelbergheim, Alsace
Grapes: Auxerrois
ABV: 12.5
Sulphur: less than 20mg/l added