Domaine Albert Mann

Wettolsheim, Alsace
www.albertmann.com

Vineyard area: 19 ha (47 acres) - of which 26% are planted with Riesling
Best sites: Hengst, Schlossberg, Furstentum
Soils: Silica, clay, limestone and marl

The Domaine Albert Mann is the joint-venture of two families of winegrowers, the Manns and the Barthelmés, who both have been making wine since the 17th century. Today the estate is run by the brothers Maurice and Jacky Barthelmé and their wives Marie-Claire (the daughter of Albert Mann) and Marie-Thérèse. The Mann wines are pure wines full of clarity, with a mineral nerve, that speak of the place where they grew up. Although firm in body, there is nothing showy about them. They are Alsatian wines, more than anything else.

The place where the vines grow and the wines inherit their character from, is of great importance to Maurice, the viticulturist. At a tasting of his wines at Appellation, a wine store in New York City dedicated to organic and biodynamic wines, he had brought with him a photo album filled with loving portraits of the soils in his vineyards. Every other row in the vineyard he has planted with cover crop, which he ploughs into the soil, using a horse as his forefathers did, to feed the soil. When I humbly mentioned to him that I keep a compost pile in my backyard garden, his eyes lit up and he passionately told me about his respect for nature and how he tries to run his vineyards in harmony with it. The domaine is certified organic and recently started practicing biodynamic viticulture.

Riesling 2004

The grapes were harvested manually and pressed as whole bunches with a pneumatic press. Fermentation was then started with natural yeasts only. The wine was not filtered and matured on its lees.

Clear, straw color of medium intensity. The nose is youthful, with prodiminantly green apple and citrus notes. But there is also a distinct aroma of wet stones, almost chalk-like. Hints of old wood. The palate is dry, with medium(+) acidity. The body as well as the alcohol are medium. The old wood somberness is showing even more on the palate. But the acidity and the citrus fruit flavors balance the wine overall quite nicely and adding to its complexity. There was an uneven weather pattern of 2004 with sunshine and clouds alternating throughout the summer and a fairly warm and sunny September, which meant a slow process of maturation and long ripening season, which seems to have translated into an exciting vibrancy and ripeness of the wine. Although this is Mann's entry-level Riesling, this is far from being simple. The minerality shows strongly in the finish. Drink now to 2009.

2004 was the first vintage in which Mann used screwcaps for those wines with a more fruity character, which should be drunk within 5 years after release.