Domaine Ostertag, Epfig, Alsace, France
Andre Ostertag's father founded the domain back in 1966 and handed him the keys to the cellar in 1980, when he was 21.
He sees wine as a language that speaks to the senses of sight, smell, taste and touch - and one that calls upon the grower's critical faculties, as well as memory (and memories). His winemaking is a "very soft process" that relies exclusively on preserving the living matter - slowly shaping the wine over a long time. Pressing is a soft, slow and long process (eight to 12 hours), fermentations are slow and natural, wines are kept on their lees for quite a while, well-considered rackings are used to let wines breathe and oak is likewise used purely for oxidative purposes - and only for varieties suited to it.
André is passionate and free-thinking, and his wines reflect this. Biodynamism was extended to 100% of the domaine in 1998, precluding any use of herbicides, chemical fertilisers and insecticides. All viticultural work is done manually, including harvest. In the cellar, press cycles are long and gentle, fermentations are long and conducted without artificial yeasts, and wines are left on their lees. Barrels are used for Pinot Blanc, Gris (sometimes) and Pinot Noir. There is little or no filtration of any of the wines, which rank among the finest in all of Alsace today.
Biodynamic producer
Winemaking
The Zellberg produces a full and complex wine thanks to the clay's flesh, to limestone's radiance and to the sandstone's blazing structure. The ageing in barrels allows a slow and controlled oxidation essential to Pinot Gris. This innovative approach is the common basis to all the domaine's dry-styled Pinot Gris.
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