Domaine Ostertag - Alsace Gewurztraminer Fronholz Vendanges Tardives 2018

Bettane & Desseauve

About the domain :

André Ostertag is one of the region's most engaging winemakers. A convinced biodynamist who is constantly questioning his viticultural practices, he cultivates his beautiful plots in Fronholz and Grand Cru Muenchberg with extreme care. The range delights from start to finish, the domaine being one of the very best specialists in pinot gris, which it succeeds like few others in Alsace, notably the splendid cuvée de muenchberg A360P, whose curious name comes from the parcel in the land register... André's son Arthur returned to the domaine in 2016, and vinified the 2017s with his father before taking sole charge in 2018, as André had to take a step back. The new les-jardins range now replaces the previous barriques and cuvée-d'epfig ranges, and covers all grape varieties.

RVF - La Revue du Vin de France / Guide des Meilleurs Vins de France

About the wine:

The Vendanges Tardives, with its pure, well-defined flavors, has a candy-like taste of honey and fir buds, and should be left to age so that its abundant sugars melt away.

About the domain :

2018 marked a turning point for the domaine, with André Ostertag's son Arthur taking charge. With a sensitivity for whites as acute as his father's, he brought his own touch to the table in 2016 and is now driving a new momentum, with a renewed team gradually coming into place. The family farms fine plots in the Zellberg and Fronholz terroirs, in the Muenchberg grand cru, not forgetting Clos Mathis, on the Hagel in Ribeauvillé. Every Alsace connoisseur should know this estate, whose wines are a pleasure to drink. The ageing potential of all the cuvées is undeniable, but the fruit is immediately accessible in the Jardins range, for example. The result of twenty years of biodynamic vineyard management, complemented by precise, pure vinification.

Wine Enthusiast

James Suckling