Domaine Weinbach, Gewurztraminer Reserve Personelle 2017

They grow their vineyards organically with a view to quality rather than quantity and hand pick the grapes. Only their grapes are vinified (unlike many other producers in Alsace who frequently have to buy them in). Ageing is best described as passive, carried out in huge old oak fuders, allowing each vineyard and each specific terroir, along with the other unique characteristics of grape and vintage, to shimmer through these elegant and sophisticated wines.

At the foot of the majestic Schlossberg hill, in a setting of vineyards and roses, the Weinbach estate "wine stream", named after the small stream that crosses it, was built in 1612 by the Capuchin monks. Sold as national property during the French Revolution, the estate was acquired in 1898 by the Faller brothers who passed it on to their son and nephew Théo. A great figure of the Alsatian vineyard and ardent promoter of its recognition as an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, Théo Faller works for the quality of Alsace wines and the enhancement of their incomparable terroirs and grape varieties. In love with his property, he developed, enlarged and embellished it. From 1979, his wife Colette and his daughters Catherine and Laurence showed the same passion for the great wines of Alsace and the same unfailing attachment to quality. Since 2016, Catherine Faller has been running the Domaine with her sons Eddy and Théo.