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
Heissenberg means "the hot mountain", so named for its heat-driven microclimate. It is a very steep hillside, south-facing, in the town of Nothalten. It is the very last sandstone hill before the junction point with the granitic part of the Vosges mountains, which extends to the south. The soil is composed of pink sandstone along with gneiss. It gives birth to a particularly rich Riesling, sun-tainted yet with intense minerality, balanced by the mother rock's powerful imprint. The vines are farmed using biodynamic principles, as is all the domaine's vineyard since 1998.
It is certified both organic and biodynamic. It is a great gastronomic Riesling with a pronounced personality, which requires spicy courses of white meats, sauced fishes, or aged hard cheeses. Above all, matching with foie gras is always superb.
Reviews
Pale straw-yellow. Bright aromas and flavors of fresh citrus and spicy kumquat. Dense and sweet in the mouth, with a lovely mineral edge countering the wine's richness and extending the energetic finish.
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