White Oolite 2021

Oolithe Blanc 2021

Domaine Einhart

Named in homage to its shell limestone soil, Oolithe is a macerated white wine with a lovely pale apricot color. It immediately reveals a beautiful minerality, great freshness, and the integrity of its predominant grape variety, Sylvaner. The olfactory sensation is enhanced by aromas of fresh apple. The second nose opens more fully with elderflower, lily of the valley, and citrus peel. On the palate, the attack is lively, fresh, and mineral, leading to a spicy and persistent finish. The name Oolithe is a direct allusion to the oolitic limestone that makes up the silty muschelkalk soil from which it is sourced (plots located in Weingarten and Oberer Altenberg). The four grape varieties that make up this wine grow on this soil: Sylvaner (30%), Auxerrois (25%), Gewurztraminer (20%) and Pinot Blanc (25%). The average age of the vines is forty-five years; the grapes come from old massal selections. The harvest, entirely manual, is destemmed, and maceration, on indigenous yeasts, takes place for a few days. The wine is aged on fine lees, in stainless steel vats, before being bottled without filtration. From the vineyard to the cellar, this wine was made without any additives or sulfites. Decanting is recommended so that it can fully express its floral grace.

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Located in the northern part of the Alsatian vineyard, horizontally above Strasbourg, the Einhart estate is a ten-hectare family property whose vines are located on the hillsides that rise between the Alsace plain and the Vosges mountains. The soil is clay-limestone and rich in fossils (muschelkalk, i.e. shell limestone and oolitic limestone, and lettenkohle or dolomitic limestone). Since 1990, Nicolas Einhart has been at the helm, now assisted by his son Théo. Faithful to his commitments to the TIFLO association, of which he is a co-founder, Nicolas devotes his viticultural work to the protection of the land and biodiversity, winemaking without inputs, the refusal of harmful phytosanitary products and the maintenance of ecological refuge zones. His estate has been certified organic since 2011. Like Jean-Marc Dreyer [link], he is firmly focused on skin maceration and produces white maceration wines (orange wines) in addition to a Pinot Noir red. Entirely manual harvests, destemming of the grapes, light punching down and delicate pressing are characteristic of the estate, as well as the separate vinification of each terroir, aging on lees and the absence of filtration before bottling. The wines are pure grape, lively, powerful, invigorating, and transcribe the minerality of the very beautiful terroirs of the Vosges foothills.