Alsace : 2022, a promising vintage!

An outstanding year! With a very sunny vintage that once again put the vines and the winegrowers to the test.

The winter was unusually mild and dry at the start of 2022. The temperatures were well above the seasonal averages and in the first three months of the year, there was a significant lack of water.

At the start of spring, the first buds only began to swell in April. The budburst was slightly later than in previous years due to the winter water shortfall. However, the temperatures in April were mild and the rainfall was fairly abundant. These were perfect conditions for the
planting of our new plot of Pinot Noir vines, thus starting a new chapter at the Domaine.

From May onwards, temperatures were well above the seasonal average. The vine’s growth accelerated, suggesting that the vintage would be very early. The flowering went off smoothly in June with the appearance of the first clusters and the promise of a good size harvest. However, the high temperatures and lack of rainfall over the summer were to put the vines to the test. The summer of 2022 turned out to be one of the hottest on record. These extreme weather conditions forced us to adapt our technical itineraries in order to protect the clusters from the sun as much as possible.

Due to the severe and ongoing hydric stress over the previous four months, the veraison kept us waiting. It finally started in mid-August. In the end, the vintage was a little less early than anticipated due to the stalling of the ripening process caused by the continuous lack of water up until the end of August. It was only in September that the longawaited and welcome rainfall finally arrived. The cooler weather conditions enabled the ripening to progress gradually. The harvesting kicked off on 29 September in our Buehl Single Vineyard and would last for 10 days.

Despite the dry, very sunny vintage, the rainfall at the start of September saved the harvest and the balances seen in the first juices are very promising. This vintage has maintained a lovely freshness with notes of exotic fruit and white flowers characteristic of the Riesling grape. It therefore promises to preserve the typical character and minerality of our wines derived from our schist Terroirs.

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