This charming new cuvée hails from a recently acquired parcel. Les Vignes du Precheur—‘the preacher’s vines’—takes its name from a single vineyard located beneath the Grand Cru Kaefferkopf, not far from the Weinbach Domaine. It’s on sandy/silt soils perfectly suited to fresh and dry, early-drinking whites. The site is currently managed organically, in conversion to both organic and biodynamic certification.
The Preacher is a co-fermentation of five Alsatian grape varieties: 40% Riesling; 30% Auxerrois; 20% Pinot Gris; 5% Muscat; and 5% Sylvaner. The harvest was whole-bunch pressed and fermented wild in old oak vats and then bottled (unfined) after eight months on lees.
As the Pigott note below states, it’s a superb, attractive dry white with green pear, lime blossom and brown spice notes and a deliciously pulpy yet racy palate. It can easily replace a Riesling or white Burgundy at the table and is quite frankly a bargain. The Preacher clearly kept some of the best vines for himself!
A very attractive, medium-bodied dry white that’s already showing plenty of pear and floral character and has an immediately appealing balance, in spite of a hint of tannin at the finish. A co-fermentation of riesling, pinot gris and auxerrois with a touch of muscat and Sylvaner.