Domaine Rieffel
Alsace, France
Lucas Rieffel is a 3rd generation farmer and winemaker in Mittlebergheim, Alsace. The domaine was started by his grandfather in 1946 and Lucas took over in 1996 after working at Ostertag for many years. Ostertag has been a huge influence for Lucas, being the first producer in the region to farm Biodynamically, work with Burgundy barrels and focus on dry wines. After taking over his family domaine Lucas started farming organically, with the whole estate being converted in 2009. At this time Lucas also sold off some of his less prized parcels in exchange for finer, more quality focused sites including expanding some Grand Crus. Since that time Lucas has been replanting some of his vineyards, drastically increasing the density, some of them up to 8000 vines per hectare, extremely high for the region. The estate is now 10 hectares.
In the cellar, wines are fermented naturally, press cycles are very long and there is also a careful approach taken for the use of sulphur, from zero to small doses, depending on cuveés, grape variety and the particular wine. Over the last ten years, there has been a gradual shift to longer lees aging, lower sulfite use and a movement away from filtration. Wines are made in a mixture of barrels and very old foudres. They are aged on their lees for their whole lives before bottling. As is typically in Alsace, the domaine works a huge range of Terroirs and grape varieties, all farmed differently to produce drastically different wines.
The Village: Mittelbergheim is in the Bas Rhin (the Lower Rhine) department in northern Alsace. It is a short drive southwest of Strasbourg and is a wine village with around 650 inhabitants and 20+ winemakers, including many of the region's best natural winemakers. A string of Grand Crus and lieux-dits are close by. The soils cannot be pigeonholed, but there are a variety of unique types of limestone here as well as sandstone and heavy clays.
A Note on Pinot Blanc: Pinot Blanc and Auxerrois are different varieties, but sometimes the names are used interchangeably. This was incredibly confusing when we were being directed where to pick! In the case of Rieffel, these varieties are totally different, with Auxerrois producing much more savoury, mineral wines and Pinot Blanc producing fruiter, more forward styles.
Pinot Noir "Runz"
Runz is the oldest plot of pinot noir in the estate which is at the base of the grand cru Zotzenberg (which only allows for whites). Vines are around 45 years old. Soils are mainly sandstone with limestone bits running through the vineyard. The wine is made whole bunch, with about a week of maceration before being pressed into Burgundy barrels.
Cremant d'Alsace
This is a blend of Auxerrois (70%) with Riesling, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay. Initial aging is in a huge foudres for one year before the bottling for the second fermentation. The wine is left to develop in the bottle (sur lattes) for 12-36 months.
Numero 6 ($26.42)
Sylvaner (70%), Muscat and Gewurtz. This cuvee is not vintage dated because it’s often a multi vintage blend, in this case 2018 and 2019. The Sylvaner comes from the Zotzenberg Grand Cru. No Sulfur added.
Pinot Gris "La Petite Colline"
From a single vineyard of old Pinot Gris planting in the grand cru Kirchberg in Barr. Declassified this year. Aged for one year in old barrels.
Pinot Blanc Granite
From a single site on a 300m plateau with an unbelievable view. Old vines of Pinot Blanc and Auxerrois are co-planted (65+ years). Aging in barrels. No sulfites.
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