Domaine Josmeyer – Riesling Grand Cru Hengst

Learn More About This Wine

This Riesling comes from three plots located close to each other, in the heart of Hengst. The vines have an average age of 50 years. This Grand Cru, facing South-South East, peaks at 360 metres and is located in the commune of Wintzenheim with a total surface area of 53 hectares. The terroir is made up of brown calcareous, sandstone and clayey soils associated with Oligocene conglomerates. This stony soil comes from the Muschelskalk limestones intermixed with clay. It is a powerful wine land, which warms up quickly in spring, rooting in favor of the stony structure and it has a water reserve thanks to the conglomerates. 

Manual harvest, followed by a traditional approach. The grapes are pressed whole for about 7 hours in the pneumatic presses. Settling is natural, fermentation begins spontaneously with the yeasts in the environment in century-old tuns. It is followed by ageing on fine lees for several months, until bottling, which usually takes place in July. 

This great dry, dense, powerful and mineral white wine is a model in terms of evolution. In warm years, there is an expressive and open nose where candied citrus fruits, pink grapefruit and spice combine with a luminous minerality. The lively and ample palate is carried by a chiseled and crystalline acidity, supported by flavours of fresh citrus fruits and infused plants. Cooler vintages can sometimes be reserved or a little austere, but the delicate and often airy structure opens up in 5 to 7 years to improve with age. The minerality is then linked to the flower, with scents of verbena and limestone rock. 

This wine will be the ideal partner for fine fish and shellfish. As it ages, creamy poultry dishes or those with full-bodied juices will flourish thanks to its dense minerality. After 20 years, a pot-au-feu with marrow bones will sharpen its saline texture and its long and precise acidity.