Sylvaner Classic 2017

A dry white wine with firm regional character, fresh and agreeably easy to drink, particularly when young. At its best with all light, uncomplicated meals.

Presentation

Quick View
This verietal is in constant decrease in Alsace, yet it remains plated in the most favoured terroirs with the average age of the vines in constant increase.
The Riesling of the poor ?
The vintage
This 2017 vintage year has been a real emotional roller-coaster ride.
The year started well enough with plenty of winter rain and a rapid first budding leading us into an ideal start to the spring season.
And then on the night of 19/20 April the Alsace region suffered its worst frost in 30 years. The damage was extensive but highly variable, anything from 0 to 80% destruction depending on the local conditions. Riquewihr was really hit very hard. All growth stopped for a number of days and the vines finally began to flower on 31 May. During the flowering season the conditions were perfect with regular rains and the vines grew magnificently throughout the summer. And almost no disease outbreaks whatsoever. We were wary of being optimist but we had a good feeling. The harvest opened on 31 August! We started on 12 September under radiant sunshine. Then... Hailstorms on 17 September! That was not part of the plan, very unusual for the season and the region! Yes, 2017 was really turning out to be a hell of a roller-coaster ride. In the end there was little real damage apart from a Pflostig field which didn't come in until the next day. Phew.
At the end of the harvest the weather was perfect with the added bonus of some wonderful late harvests, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris. It was a tough one but the 2017 vintage will produce really great wines.
In the vineyard
Harvested in the first days of harvest, exclusively by hand, from clay and limestone vineyards in a dozen of the most favoured localities in and around Riquewihr. A cool and long growing season give this unique dry wine great finesse and balanced intensity.
Winemaking
The grapes are taken in small tubs to the presses, which are filled by gravity, without any pumping or other mechanical intervention.
After pressing, the must is decanted for a few hours, then fermented in temperature-controlled barrels or vats (at 18 to 24°C). The wine is racked just once, before natural clarification during the course of the winter. The following spring, the wine is lightly filtered just before bottling, and the bottles are then aged in our cellars until released for sale.
The whole production of this wine is closed with DIAM the cork without the risk of cork taint.
Varietal
Sylvaner : 100%
Specifications
Alcohol content : : 12.24° % vol.
Residual Sugar : : 0.6 g/l
Tartaric acidity : : 5.89 g/l
pH : : 3.22
Age of vines : : 31 years old
Yield : : 55 hl/ha hL/ha

Advice

Video
Tasting notes by Serge Dubs, World's Best Sommelier 1989
Visually dynamic, youthful and dashing with pale green, lime tree foliage highlights and a silvery crystalline shimmer.
The olfactory expression is alert and fresh with a juvenile, springtime and refreshing fruitiness. Primrose, daffodil, lemongrass.
Fresh as it hits the palate, a pretty, refreshing and thirst-quenching dry wine which wants to be enjoyed for its freshness and refined aromatic finish filled with delicate and elegant fruit aromas.
A nice reflection of the sylvaner grape variety’s identity which can be enjoyed immediately, this is a pure, straight wine for drinking.
Best served immediately or within 3 years. Ideal as an aperitif wine before a meal; best served at 8° C.
Best served with ceviche of fish, shellfish, mussels, oysters, crab, raw and marinated fish sushi, maki, mixed salads, asparagus, avocado, fish, sheep and goats cheese. Vegetarian dishes.