93 p. The Wine Advocate (2015)
Sourced from granitic soils in the Sommerberg, the 2015 Pinot Noir S opens with a deep, ripe, intense, pure, fresh and complex nose with granitic, herbal and red-fruit flavors. Highly finessed and elegant on the palate, with a silky texture and juicy fruit, this is a generous, full-bodied, intense, quite powerful and very persistent Pinot with a perfect mix of ripe fruit, silky tannins, freshness and tension-filled structure. The finish is long, ripe, round, fine and aromatic, with good vitality, mineral grip and purity. This red Sommerberg is one of the finest Alsace Pinot Noirs I have tasted from the 2015 vintage.
According to Jean Boxler, the Pinot Noir S is sourced from a rather cool plot that delivers small grapes with small berries. Picked in the middle of the harvest, the 2015 was fermented with 50% whole clusters. The maceration—with no punch-downs, just very short pump-overs—took 14 days. After pressing, the juice started to ferment again in stainless steel where it was kept for two or three months before the young wine was racked into barrels and was aged for one year. The wine has never been pumped, not even for bottling. No fining, no filtration and just a low dose of SO2 for the bottling.
- Stephan Reinhardt
