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 Clos Mathis is our talented vineyard manager's property, whose name is Hubert Mathis.
This remarkable 0.6 Ha vineyard surrounded by stone walls is located in Ribeauvillé, straight in line with the Grand Crus Geisberg and Kirchberg, on the path to the three castles. The soil is composed of a granitic mother rock and gneiss, with poor fertility. The vines are grown on terraces, on a very steep south-east facing slope which gets a hot and sunny microclimate.
The warmth is tempered by cool winds coming from the valley that ends just after the vineyard. This particular location allows slow ripening, preserving acidity and finesse in the Riesling.
Hubert Mathis inherited this plot from his parents. He entirely rebuilt it and first sold the grapes to a local merchant, until 1997 when we both decided to reveal this very beautiful and old place which was already esteemed in the middle ages at the times of the Seigneurs de Ribeaupierre.
1997, 1998 and 1999 vintages allowed us to work on the soils and start using Biodynamics there, in order to wake up life and turn the plot into a real terroir. We did not bottle it under its actual single vineyard label until 2000, when we thought we had finally achieved what we were looking for with this wine. It took us three years for that, which can seem long but is really short for grapevine.
Clos Mathis gives birth to classic, distinguished and long-ageing Rieslings. Some aspects can make it seem austere in its youth, the structural elements (acidity, mineral tannins) being so much in the foreground, but with time the Clos Mathis becomes a sappy, classically dry wine in the breed of the great Alsatian Rieslings.
Reviews
Almost a passionfruit crême brule sweetness, well rounded, hessian, soft and dripping, almost like a chardonnay for weight, spicy and phenolic finish, with savoury lathed wood and such. You’ll either love it or not love it, I’m thinking.
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