2022 Pinot Gris Rotenberg

From 41-year-old, 33 hectoliters per hectare-yielding vines on red limestone soils from the Oligocene, the dark golden-colored 2022 Rotenberg Wintzenheim Pinot Gris opens with a remarkably fragrant, pure, refined, saline and rocky bouquet of ripe and concentrated white and yellow seed fruits, crushed limestones and lemony nuances. Round, vital and very elegant on the palate, this is a full-bodied, intense yet refined Pinot Gris that reveals a saline, savory and finely tannic finish with noble bitters and delicate fruit aromas. Bottled with 0.5 grams per liter of residual sugar, this is an analytically bone dry but sensorial ample, rich and complex Pinot with a long, mineral finish. The tannins are fine and well integrated and perfectly intermingled with the precise limestone acidity. This is an extraordinary Pinot Gris that was bottled with 13.15% alcohol in January 2024. Natural cork. Tasted in November 2024. The Pinot Gris is eventually even better than the excellent Auxerrois from this cru. "The steep red limestone slopes of the Rotenberg turn from full north facing to west facing," explains Olivier Humbrecht whose family domaine owns almost two hectares under vine on the west-facing part, looking at the Vosges mountains. "Enjoying a late sunrise and early sunset, this vineyard is capable of retaining good acidity and structure every vintage. It was also capable in the past, in late-ripening vintages, to produce amazing Vendanges Tardives. Today, the harvest is much earlier, and the grapes possess a balance that allows for the production of racy dry wines."