Marcel Deiss Schoenenbourg Grand Cru 2017
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Suckling
James -
Spirits
Wine & -
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Field blend of Alsatian varieties. A very steep slope, south facing. Bedrock of fertile, water-retentive, iridescent Keuper marl covered by light layers of sandstone soil and gypsum. Heaviest soils of the crus. Planted between 1952 and 1982. 8,00012,000 vines per ha. Indigenous yeast. Very slow, whole-cluster pressing for up to 12 hours. Fermented and aged in large ancient foudres for 12 months. Certified biodynamic.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Super fresh for three years of age, the floral-honey and beeswax aromas are very enticing. This is so cool and tightly-wound for the warm and sometimes overblown vintage. Pretty dry, the hint of natural grape sweetness is almost completely obscured by the profound, wet-stone minerality. Enormously concentrated and totally focused finish. A co-fermented field-blend of varieties. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold.
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Wine & Spirits
A famed hillside in Riquewihr, this south-facing mixed planting grows in light sandstone top soils over clay-rich, fertile gypsum marls. Deiss believes it is his longest-lived wine and it does take days to show itself. Impacted at first, perfumed with scents of apricots, peach skin and a nutty character, this wine shows its stamina as it stretches out while maintaining a seamless integration. As the richness and flavors progress, that integration makes it feel silken and remarkably easy to drink. In the end, the wine conjured more thoughts about what to eat with it (a Comté grilledcheese sandwich with onion jam…chicken Cordon Bleu…) than how to describe its incandescent taste.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The golden-colored 2017 Grand Cru Schoenenbourg is pure, deep and intense on the nose that reveals clove as well as blood orange or Cointreau aromas and almond notes. On the palate, this is a very intense, rich and complex, elegant and refined Schoenenbourg with quite a lot of sugar, grip and tannin tension but also salinity and great promises. Bottled with 13.4% stated alcohol and 28 grams per liter of residual sugar. Natural cork. Rating: 95+
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Wine Enthusiast
An intense but sophisticated nose has restrained notes of pear, lychee and vanilla. In the mouth, this wine is round and smooth, with pleasing weight on the tongue. Sweet lychee notes are met with refreshing lemon acidity. An off-dry finish has wonderful reed notes that support that intriguing hint of vanilla. This wine could go just as well with duck breast as with an apple tart. Keep it on hand for dinner parties.
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Wine Spectator
A lovely nose of petrol and spice leads to glazed apple and tangerine fruit flavor with accents of chamomile, graphite and dried mint. This deftly knits well-honed acidity to the silky and succulent, off-dry profile. Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer and Muscat.
Other Vintages
2018-
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert
With hundreds of white grape varieties to choose from, winemakers have the freedom to create a virtually endless assortment of blended white wines. In many European regions, strict laws are in place determining the set of varieties that may be used in white wine blends, but in the New World, experimentation is permitted and encouraged. Blending can be utilized to enhance balance or create complexity, lending different layers of flavors and aromas. For example, a variety that creates a soft and full-bodied white wine blend, like Chardonnay, would do well combined with one that is more fragrant and naturally high in acidity. Sometimes small amounts of a particular variety are added to boost color or aromatics. Blending can take place before or after fermentation, with the latter, more popular option giving more control to the winemaker over the final qualities of the wine.
With its fairytale aesthetic, Germanic influence and strong emphasis on white wines, Alsace is one of France’s most unique viticultural regions. This hotly contested stretch of land running north to south on France’s northeastern border has spent much of its existence as German territory. Nestled in the rain shadow of the Vosges mountains, it is one of the driest regions of France but enjoys a long and cool growing season. Autumn humidity facilitates the development of “noble rot” for the production of late-picked sweet wines, Vendange Tardive and Sélection de Grains Nobles.
The best wines of Alsace can be described as aromatic and honeyed, even when completely dry. The region’s “noble” varieties, the only ones permitted within Alsace’s 51 Grands Crus vineyards, are Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Muscat, and Pinot Gris.
Riesling is Alsace’s main specialty. In its youth, Alsace Riesling is dry, fresh and floral, but develops complex mineral and flint character with age. Gewurztraminer is known for its signature spice and lychee aromatics, and is often utilized for late harvest wines. Pinot Gris is prized for its combination of crisp acidity and savory spice as well as ripe stone fruit flavors. Muscat, vinified dry, tastes of ripe green grapes and fresh rose petal.
Other varieties grown here include Pinot Blanc, Auxerrois, Chasselas, Sylvaner and Pinot Noir—the only red grape permitted in Alsace and mainly used for sparkling rosé known as Crémant d’Alsace. Most Alsace wines are single-varietal bottlings and unlike other French regions, are also labeled with the variety name.