Of the many things I love about France’s Alsace region, what stands out above all for me is the frozen-in-time quality of its villages and vines. As single vineyards go, it doesn’t get any more ‘hallowed’ than Grand Cru “Rosacker,” from which some of the world’s greatest Rieslings have sprung over the past 500 years.
This Gold Standard vineyard is located around the idyllic, stone-built village of Hunawihr and has been a perennial source for some of France’s greatest dry Riesling. Most notably, Trimbach’s “Clos Ste. Hune,” a wine that possesses incredible complexity and seemingly limitless aging potential (which we confirmed when tasting
their 1990 vintage earlier this year!). Vineyards such as Rosacker are transcendent patches of earth that make any discussion of old vines seem quaint. Vines have lived long lives, and been reborn many times over in places like this. As a result, owning any piece of land here is a monumental achievement in and of itself: Mader’s tiny Grand Cru parcel is not even two acres’ worth, but they cherish their 50+-year-old, organically farmed vines to the fullest extent. The result is a phenomenal wine displaying the immense layers, mineral vibrancy, and bracing acidity found in the world’s greatest dry Rieslings. Our close relationship with Mader’s importer allowed us to be one of the first to offer this severely limited 2017 bottling—it was reserved just for us, and we cannot wait to pass it on to you.
Jean-Luc and Anne Mader founded their family domaine in 1981, after having worked at the local winemaking cooperative. These days they’re ably assisted by their son, Jérome, who now oversees most of the work in the vineyards and cellar. Headquartered right in Hunawihr, their vineyard holdings span roughly 23 acres, which they farm organically (and, more recently, biodynamically). As is so often the case in the bucolic hills of Alsace, everything is done by hand from start to finish, and typically the Mader whites incorporate significant percentages of whole bunches in their fermentations, lending depth and longevity to the wines.
The Rosacker Grand Cru, which spans 64 acres in total (of which about half is planted to Riesling), is widely regarded as a “holy grail” Riesling site, thanks at least in part to the legend of “Clos Ste. Hune.” The Mader family’s holdings lay a little higher up the slope, and consist of just .08 hectares of 50+-year-old vines. The hand-harvested fruit for the 2017 was subjected to a long, slow fermentation in stainless steel and left on its lees until bottling nearly one year later.
As always with Mader, their newest release from Rosacker is an ultra-classic take on Alsatian Riesling: Sky-high minerality, citrus blossoms, and trickles of tropical savor gush out of the glass and only blossom with air. Remember: this is a baby, so allow it time to find its legs! After 30 minutes, it will stun you with gorgeous floral perfume and ripe fruit, and after 60, it’s firing on all cylinders. You’ll smell and taste exotic fruits like green mango peel and guava, followed by quince, citrus blossoms, Key lime, white peach skin, honeysuckle, crushed stones, and a touch of petrol that will only increase in intensity with further bottle age. The wine is intensely textured, medium-plus bodied, and harmoniously dry throughout, while flaunting a soft honeyed texture alongside racy acidity and wet stone minerality. I go nuts for these wines because of how they manage to be both rich and refreshing at the same time—Riesling always seems to pull off the impossible like no other white grape. When enjoying, do so in all-purpose white stems around 50-55 degrees, but don’t pull all your corks prematurely! With its incredible structure, it has the ability to age wonderfully over the next decade and beyond. For pairing, do what we did (time and time again) while in Alsace—choucroute garnie! It’s one of those delicious, über-classic pairings and the attached recipe from Jacques Pépin is a much more accessible take on the dish. Enjoy!
