Riesling Origin White 2021

Riesling Origin Blanc 2021

Jean-Marc Dreyer

Green fruits, balanced acidity, elegance, complexity: plenty of structure and depth; Jean-Marc Dreyer's Riesling Origin is what we call a wine for meditation. Jean-Marc Dreyer's Origin range is dedicated to single-varietal cuvées based on Alsatian varieties. Here, whole-bunch maceration exposes Riesling in a completely new light: ignoring the petrol notes (which are present, but politely wait until the finish to reveal themselves), the wine expresses a structured verticality balanced by a gentle roundness. Very mineral, but this time it's the soil you feel, not the diesel can. This wine was aged for eleven months in the Alsatian style, that is, in foudres and demi-muids. Taste pairings? Don't look, it goes with everything. Biodynamic method, fermentation with indigenous yeasts, unfiltered, unclarified, no sulfites added in the vineyard or cellar.

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"Maceration in Alsace is a tradition!" says Jean-Marc Dreyer, adding that direct pressing in this region is a modern invention, linked to the advent of electricity. In the past, people worked by hand and let the grapes macerate before sending the marc to the press. » Whole-bunch maceration is Jean-Marc Dreyer's signature and represents 85% of the estate's production, the remainder consisting of direct-pressed whites, often aged using controlled oxidation. Jean-Marc succeeds several generations of his family at the Dreyer & Fils estate, established in 1830 between Obernai and Molsheim. Upon taking over the estate, he immediately opted for biodynamics, but he hesitated for a while between several methods: at first, his wines were more oaky, aged in new barrels with stirring. Then came the sweet period: all his wines contained residual sugar. In 2008, he tried vinifying without any sulfur and found his direction: the following winter, upon returning from the pilgrimage to Compostela, he swore never to add sulfur to any wine again. Having made this decision, he asserts his style around skin maceration, quite advanced, chiseled, always surprising on Alsatian grape varieties, of which it brings out the structure without sacrificing the delicacy. Jean-Marc works in single-varietal or blended vintages and also produces Pinot Noir reds of surprising depth.