The extraordinary quality and complexity of today’s wine should come as no surprise to anyone. After all, Domaine Schoech is a known destination for truly world class dry Riesling and Grand Cru Kaefferkopf has a seven-century history of producing elite wine.
We offered the previous vintage of this bottling, but this 2014 offers even deeper fruit and minerality. It’s an impressive package, and while pricing for top quality Grand Cru French wines leaps higher every vintage, today’s wine remains a shocking value at $36. So, if you’ve never tasted top-tier dry Grand Cru Alsace Riesling—or if you want to revisit for a relative bargain—this is the bottle!
I often say that Alsace is the most breathtaking wine region on earth. It holds deep sentimental importance for me, and I visit as often as my schedule allows. As such, I’m extremely selective about the region’s wines: We might only offer one or two Alsace Rieslings on SommSelect per year. That’s not because the region isn’t overflowing with some of France’s most historic and impressive whites—and the country’s ONLY Grand Cru Riesling. It’s because of the prices. For instance, one of my favorite Alsace Rieslings is Trimbach’s “Clos Sainte Hune” (a sub-parcel of Grand Cru Rosacker, just south of the hillside that produces today’s wine) which currently retails for $275 a pop. Ouch. So, rather than cramming a bunch of extremely expensive Alsace whites into your inbox, I prefer to hold my fire and wait for the rare instances wherein top quality meets a reasonable price. Today is an especially exaggerated example.
Riesling is one of the most age-worthy varieties on the planet and it’s a chameleon capable of expressing even the most subtle distinctions of various soil types. Those who question the concept of terroir need only compare a glass of slate-grown Riesling to that of a neighboring limestone parcel—they will encounter two dramatically different wines. Terroir is a real thing and few grapes illustrate the concept as definitively as Riesling.
In a restaurant, sommeliers lean heavily on Riesling because it is also one of the ultimate “skeleton keys” for unlocking exotic dishes and cuisines. For instance, my fiancé is the far superior chef in our household and when she prepares the more unusual dishes from her native Guangdong Province, Riesling is the most compatible wine. Yes, white Burgundy and Champagne pair surprisingly well with many Asian dishes—but when I need one bottle to flatter the entire meal, I reach for top-tier Riesling. Alsace Riesling, particularly, seems to possess a gift for managing unruly salt/soy and vinegar notes—not a surprise given the region’s salt pork and choucroute-intensive local cuisine.
Most wine professionals will agree the noble Riesling grape achieves its most transcendent expression in three ancient growing regions: lower Austria, southwestern Germany, and northeastern France’s Alsace region. Germany has perfected the art of chiseled, angular Riesling while the Austrian “house style” generally balances both precision and weight. Still, if you seek the absolute maximum in texture, depth and power, Alsace is your destination. But Alsace remains a challenge for sommeliers and consumers alike: Mediocre, semi-sweet white wine from the region crowds retail shelves in the US. With little in the way of classification or labeling standards, it’s often challenging to determine what’s in a bottle of Alsace Riesling until after the cork has been pulled. So, before going any further, let me be 100% clear: This is a deliciously dry wine!
Today’s bottle hails from one of Alsace’s gems, the ancient Grand Cru “Kaefferkopf.” This vineyard clings to a steep, verdant hillside in the Vosges mountains at 800-1,000 feet elevation. Soil is a mix of granite and limestone, and the vines that produce today’s wine are farmed organically. The most interesting thing about this vineyard isn’t soil or farming, though—it’s temperature! Whenever I’m in Alsace, I marvel at the region’s seemingly ever-present sun and warmth, even when it’s cold and rainy in nearby Champagne and Burgundy. That’s because Alsace’s Vosges mountains create what locals refer to as a föhn, or rain shadow breeze. As severe storms make their way through the Vosges, they gradually offload precipitation and cool air on west-facing slopes. By the time the weather system arrives at Grand Cru Kaefferkopf, often all that’s left is a warm, dry breeze, or föhn. This warmth is one of the many reasons why today’s wine offers such disarmingly vivid yellow apple fruit and seductive texture. It’s a special site with a truly unique microclimate.
In 2014, brothers Sebastien and Jean-Léon Schoech have created a masterpiece. This family has been working these same hillsides since the 1600s and today’s wine proves the time and dedication has not been wasted. For me, Schoech is one of the premier boutique family producers in all of Alsace. Their most dependable grand slam is today’s Grand Cru Kaefferkopf. Incredible refreshment and energy on the palate, plus a blast of yellow apple, Asian pear, peach, and kaffir lime. Soon enough, porcini, white stone and classic Riesling-borne diesel begin to reveal themselves. This beauty has Grand Cru written all over it, and while it's showing gorgeously today, I expect it has at least another 8-10 years of prime drinking in the tank. If enjoying tonight, decant 20 minutes and serve in large Bordeaux stems at 55 degrees. This bottle is the perfect artillery for holiday ham and pork roasts—and of course, if you’ve never enjoyed a perfect Grand Cru Alsace Riesling with the region’s classic Choucroute Garnie, you should not miss out!
