JP Rietsch "Crémant Brut Non Dosé Extra Brut" 2021/2022

FROM WINES UNDER THE BONNET

THE WINE: The latest edition of the crémant is made from juice of the 2021 harvest, to which juice from 2022 has been added as spark. Consistently one of our all-time favourite sparkling wines. Exotic fruit and citrus up front, with a lively and saline attack which opens and continues to develop.

THE PRODUCER: The Rietsch estate has been in the family for seven generations; the land was previously used for tobacco and crops. It was Jean-Pierre’s parents who started cultivating vines in 1970s and handed them on to JP in 1987. The domaine is still very much driven by a family-led culture. Vines are raised naturally, with terroir at the heart of the operation and no use of chemicals. Sulphur is very rarely used in the cellar, only when absolutely necessary.

Wines are made with a low-pressure pneumatic press for a gentle extraction, with a slow fermentations and always indigenous yeasts. Having grown weary of teasing late-harvest, off-dry wines from his more aromatic grape varieties, Jean-Pierre was one of the first growers in the Alsace to experiment with macerating them.