I have send some Rangen Pinot Gris too but it is not yet on the site. Whether this will have any incidence on sales remains to be seen.
10 December 2007
The harvest has been a success. This year has been the strangest of the vintages I have seen. The spring has started very early, actually April was warmer than July, and we had an early flowering around the first of June. Given the warm months of May and June, we came to expect a very early harvest, like 2003, starting mid August. But July and August were cold and rainy and all our forecasts were wrong footed. So we started with the Crémant the 3rd of September but even that was early and we finished it only 10 days later. The grapes were clean, without rot because the rains had stopped mid August, before the grapes started maturing.
In the first days of September, the weather was still cold, but dry and the grapes matured only slowly. But then the weather got warmer and we finished with a nice 20-24°.
We all had a tendency to rush the grapes quickly in, remembering the rainfalls of 2006. But as we saw no forecast of rains, serenity started and we harvested leisurly. And it didn't rain during September and October , except for a single day. This was the best harvest season since 1989, we had the luxury to harvest the grapes at the best point. So we did indeed pick some Vendanges Tardives grapes of a very high quality and Selection de Grains Nobles.
This will be a good vintage, we will see later just how much good, but good it will be.
I forgot to mention, for those who read the Guide Hachette 2008, they will see there the Riesling Bollenberg with one star.
25 October 2006
The harvest is over! Have we seen the first negative effects of climate change this year? We started the month in an optimistic mood: July has been hot and dry, perfect conditions for the vines, August cool and rainy. we started September with good maturity, high acid in tartric form, which is good, and were expecting sun and warmer weather.
We actually got some sun at the beginning of September: the Cremants were harvested in near perfact conditions from the 13th to the 15th. I even ventured to pick some Pinot Noir in order to make my first crémant rosé. I have tasted some very good Champagne rosé, but never any good Crémant rosé and, Cremant geing nothing else than a Champagne made in Alsace, I wanted to have a go. The first bottles will be released in 2008.
We got warm weather too and that was the problem, because warm weather and heavy rains make a bad mixture at harvest time. The date for the normal wines had been set on Wednesday, 27th of September. On the previous Sunday and Monday we got heavy rainstorms with near monsoon temperatures. The date of the harvest was advanced to Monday 21 rst, but no one could cope. We started the picking anyway on the 27th, picking simultaneously by hand and by machine and by the following Sunday, 1rst October, nearly all the generic wines had been harvested. What we usually do leisurly in a couple of weeks has been done in five days!! This was not the end of the story; we were soaked every five day by the same kind opf storms, up to 80 mm of rains each time. It was a kind of turbo harvest we never experienced before.
The wines will be reminiscent of 1994, with forgetable normal wines, but completely astonishing SGN. Only some plots had resited the onslaught of the rain. We picked the last SGN on October 18th; you know there is a Civa person who comes to check on the spot the quality and quantity of juice produced: in the case of the Pinot Gris SGN, the juice was above the mesuring range of his refract meter, that is: it contained more than 390 g of sugar per liter!!! These will be great wines, with incredible concentration, for consumption over the next 50 years. You may see them on the market in 4-5 years time.
3 July 2006
This last winter has been unusally long and cold. We recorded an 18 inches snow fall on the 4th of March; even in my childhood, I have never seen so much snow in Orschwihr. This long winter was followed by a cold spring: the buds started growing only end of April. It has never been that late in the last ten years. We were expecting a late harvest, starting in October. We were three weeks late. Then, end of May, suddenly we got hot weather, around 85 °F and all the flowering was over arond mid-June, normal timing again. The hot weather is still continuing with weekly storms bringing some rains... nearly the perfect conditions, provided we avoid the hail. Statistically, we should expect a period of cooler weather sometime this summer, as has always happened. If not, expect a very early harvest, again!
The 2005's are on their way to the market. The yields were quite low in 2005 with excellent maturity, so the wines are richer than in 2004. Even the riesling, which I deemed excellent in 2004, is still better in 2005. The Grand Crus especially show a very nice richness, typical of the great rieslings. Appearently, it paid handsomely to wait until full maturity to harvest the rieslings.
Wine consumption is down in France; I see much less private customers than 2 years ago. Is this due to the anti-alcohol advertising? The students taking the exam at the end of the high school this year had even to ponder about "the bad sides of wine".Where is the French paradox?
7 October 2005
The harvest has started as usually in mid-september for the Crémant d'Alsace in very good conditions; not rot, sunshine. The Pinot Blanc followed suite with good maturity, no rot, reminiscent of the 2000 vintage with a lower sugar level. Rains started again at the end of September and stopped only on the 5th of October, raising the specter of the 2004 rains. Thanksfully, we have now again nice dry weather with sunshine, ideal to boost the sugar level in the Rieslings which is very low up to now (around 10°). needless to say, none has yet been harvested. This is in stark contrast to the Gewurztraminer, some of which have been picked at over 14°. Appearently this 2005 will not be a Riesling vintage.
I got a letter from the administration complaining that alccol content I put on the label goes against the law: it is indicated by 0.1 %, for example 13.4%. The law says that it has to be in this case either 13% or 13.5%, anything in-between being not lawful.
I had to promise that in the future I will correct my errors and abide to the law. You will see no more exotic alcohol indication like 13.2 % or 14.7 % but a regular 13% or 13.5% (14.5% or 15%).
They do not object in principle to the indication of the residual sugar but want it to be indicated as Sucre résiduel and not as a single S as I have done up to now. This is understandable and I will gladly comply.
26 May 2005
These are not exactly the hottest news but you get an idea of what has been going on since winter. The season started in a normal way, that means normal spring temperatures, rains, the buds came out slowly, grew slowly and only now are they starting to grow rapidly: we are getting a spell of very warm weather up to Sunday.
The flowering will take place in mid-June. At this point, you cannot say anything about 2005, except that everything is still possible, the best and the worst. Let's hope for the best.
The markets! There has been lots of talks about the eroding markets for French wines and it seems that sales figures confirm the trend. It is surprising to see figures of -15, -20% of year on year sales. This is quite a big shift. Where have all the customers gone? In Alsace we have recorded figures of -3%, not too worrying but the trend is not good and we cannot continue like that. For myself, the figures are bad in some markets, which used to be important: Belgium and Holland and generally in western Europe. But they are good in the USA and Russia.
I had recently at a diner a Pinot Gris and then a Chardonnay. Although it was supposed to be a good Chardonnay, I was very disapointed by the later. Coming after the Pinot Gris, I expected more richness.
12 December 2004
The harvest is over and it has been the toughest I have had. It started very
nicely on the 16 of September, earlier than expected, with the grapes for Crémant,
exclusively Chardonnay for the first time. August had been cool and rainy and
the first 2 weeks in September hot and sunny, nearly the ideal combination.
Then on the 30th we started harvesting the Pinot Gris Enchenberg, excellent
maturity, not a single rotten berry. I even told a passing jounalist that day
that we won't make any Late Harvest wines this year as we have no rot at all.
Then the situation changed dramatically: rains and rains and rains We had to
guess when it will not rain and quickly assemble the team on those few days
without rains. Only once we harvested under rain and the result was so poor
that the wine will become part of Edelzwicker: no Riesling Enchenberg in 2004!
The overall quality will be good but not exceptional, as usually the wines
were not chaptalized and didn't need to be.
We even managed to make some really exceptional Selection de Grains Nobles
on the 16 of November.Watch out for that wine; it will be as exceptionnal as
the 1994s. Zind Humbrecht harvested the last part of the Rangen on the 17th:
he will have some exceptional 2004s too.
I hope you all have cellared what you will need to spend nicely the last days
of this year and whish you all a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
27 July 2004
I know I have been late in revealing the most recent secrets of the 2004 harvest:
hold your breath: it will be normal!
All the figures are in line with the average of the last years, 2003 apart.
Even July has been cool, as it often is. It is only dryer than normal and it
would be nice if we could get some rain. So September will make or break the
vintage as always.
15 October 2003
I predicted an early harvest; it has even been earlier than expected: we have
started the Crémant on the 26 th of August and even this was a little
bit late. So we had 4 weeks advance and we finished the picking on the 25th
of September, late harvest wines included..
The big disapointment is the quantity harvested. It is down by 56% on the last
vintage, even given the fact that I harvested 5% more vineyards than last year.
So expect some price increases by the end of this year. these will be justified
by the quality of the crop: the wines are very concentrated but with less acidity
than in a normal vintage, due to the very summer. the Pinot Noir especially
is stunning, deep red like a Rhône Syrah.
30 June 2003
This is a very late up-date; I have changed computer and have not intalled
the necessary programs in time.
We had a harvest 2002 which was unusually low in terms of quantity, but the
quality was very fine. The problem has been one of excess of sugar for the Rieslings,
Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer, so expect a high alcohol content and some sweetness
for some wines which used to be dry. But for this vintage and followings, the
residual sugar content will be indicated on the label, so you willknow what
kind of wine to expect.
We had hail on May 8th on the Bollenberg, the entire area hes been affected
and between 30 and 70% of the crop has been destroyed in a 15 minutes storm.
As we have had an exceptionnally hot and dry month, we expect an early harvest
and of course very small quantities.
10 August 2002
I know I am desperatly staid but here is more of the same. Two subjects recently
drew my attention:
Tthe first was a remark by Jean Hugel that when in a restaurant ordering Alsace
wine, even he doesn't know what to expect: will the wine be dry, semi-sweet
or more? I often experienced the same: ask a waiter for a dry Alsace and very
often the answer is:" they are all somewhat dry" which may mean anything.
For anybody taking the wine seriously, it is a nuisance when you try to match
it with the food. The sugar level in wine is much more important when tasting
than the alcohol content. I deplore the tendency of Alsace wines to become loaded
with some suggar. They should be dry, great wines for food. This is why I decided
to indicate on all futur labels the suggar level together with the alcohol level.
This will make for the job much easier for the sommelier and the wine buyer,
so they are sure what style to expect when opening the bottle.
The second subject was based on a paper published by the Economist on July
27th reflecting again on the French Paradox. This suggest that people drinking
wine have less heart diseases and longer life-span than others. Many doctors
observed that in the West, richer folk tend to prefer wine over beer or spirits.
So it might just be that it is the money that is responsible for a better live
and not the wine.
In a study released by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, reseachers
from the Duke University of North Carolina and European colleagues have analysed
data about a group of 4500 subjects, participating in a long-term heart study
since the 1960s. They were all white, highly educated middle-aged and affluent.
They were given questionnaires about their drinking habits, food intake, weight,
smoking and exercise habits plus education and occupational prestige.
After analysis, the researchers found that wine-drinkers ate less saturated
fat, smoked less and were more active than the rest, independently of socio-economic
status. Wine-drinkers simply lead more sensible and healthier lives, practising
reasonable self-discipline in matters of diet, exercise and smoking. According
to the researchers, this life-style explains much of their better health.
I would like to add my own thought. Are not wine-drinkers just more quality-conscious?
Drinking wine is not as easy as beer. You need to find among a bewildering array
of wines you style of wine and the wines for different occasions. It demands
an effort and so does exercing and diet but it all results in a better quality
of life.
And great news from our friends the winewriters. A large Danish newspaper has
awarded gold to the Gewurztraminer Bollenberg 2000 and the Pinot Blanc
Bollenberg 2000 has been designated Wine buy of the week in The Plain
Dealer (Ohio, USA).
10 July 2002
The weather in our business is an essential component of the quality of our
product, so don't be surprised if I report often on the weather conditions.
And up to now these conditions have just been fine; after a late start in April
and mixed weather in May, the conditions have vastly improved in June with temperatures
above 30°C quite regularly. So we had a very nice flowering and now the
grapes are well formed and growing. The weather is still warm with short spells
of storms and rains, nearly the perfect combination of sun and water. Wait and
see up to the harvest to pronounce on the quality of the vintage. A bad month
of September or October could still ruin everything.
1 March 2002
The winter has gone smoothly without snow, but lot of
rains. The cellar this winter has been quite cold, due to the new building
where doors and insulation were not all finished before the cold days. Everything
is fixed now. Some wines are already bottled; especially the Pinot Blanc and
the Gewurztraminer Bollenberg.
I have used for this batch of Pinot Blanc a special cork with a small silicone
separator betveen the wine and the cork itself. This should ensure that no cork-smell
ever appears. It is probably a first step in a move towards plastic cork for
wines with a short lifetime (< 30 months) until these are accepted by the
customer. Cork has been a problem these last ten years: as production has remained
constant and worldwide demand has vastly increased, the prices have increased
together with a decrease in quality as cork is harvested younger. So the hunt
is on for a good substitute.
31 October 2001
The Harvest has been
finished yesterday with surprising results. As September was cold and wet, I
started expecting an average to bad vintage and was preparing for an as late
as possible harvest, towards the end of october, to ensure at least a decent
quality; then came this superb month of October with temperatures between 22°Cand
26°C, lots of sun and the medium quality turned into very good. Watch out
for the Riesling Grand Cru Kessler, Kitterlé, Rangen and Pfingstberg
2001. I expect them to be very good. The Zinnkoepflé has been severely
affected by hail in July, resulting in very small quantities.
The total volume is nearly the same as last year and,
given the fact that the vineyard is expanding, that means lower average yields
although some vineyards like the Bollenberg had slightly higher yields.
The construction of the new cellar is not yet finished,
but the press is working in the new premises.
I got a phone call from a customer inquiring about the
Gewurztraminer Bollenberg 1999 which has got 2 ** in the Guide
Hachette.
July 2001
The flowering took place around th 15th of June, this is later than
last year but quite average for Alsace. after that the weather has been dry
and warm and the vines were growing quickly. The amount of grapes on the the
vines appears to be average. So everything is fine so far.
There was hail on the Zinnkoepflé that destroyed 50% of the harvest
during the storm of the 6th of July. So expect less Zinnkoepflé 2001
During the Vinexpo week, I started the construction (or to be precise,
the digging) of a new extention of the cellar. The building will provide 220
square meters of underground bottle storage, 90 sqm for the press area and 130
sqm for office and labelling area. At least the press area and the bottle storage
should be finished in time for the harvest.
Short Easter news
A report on the Riesling Vendanges Tardives 1989 has been published
in "The Prague Tribune" in the Bacchus report in the March issue written
by a wine writer Helena Baker resident in Prag under the headline: Barking good
Alsacians, the top of the tops.
"Saveurs et Vins de France" mentionned the Château d'Orschwihr
and the Riesling Grand Cru Rangen 1996 also in the March issue along with other
Alsace wineries
Not least, after the Waterside Inn, the other of the two three-stared Michelin
restaurants in U-K, Gordon Ramsay, listed some of my wines on his wine-list.
Most of the top restaurants in U-k list some of my wines now, thanks to the
efforts of my importer there: Georges Barbier of London.
Happy New Year 2001 January 2001
As expected the 2000 vintage will be very rich. The wines are full-bodied and
well structured and unusually the Gewurztraminer and Tokay Pinot Gris Bollenberg
will retain some sweetness due to the very high level of suggar at the time
of the picking (15.5% potentiel alcohol). These wines are been filtered before
bottling starting in March. The Grand Crus are still resting on the lies until
June-July.
Tasting-notes
Send us your tasting-notes on the Château d'Orschwihr wines. I would
like to post them on the site with your e-mail so as to encourage discussions
among wine freaks.
