Mambourg 2019 Marcel Deiss

Tasting Notes

The first sensation is spiciness. Notes of candied ginger, yellow plum, orange zest and beeswax. Pinot Gris and Gewürztraminer, part of the vineyard blend, enhance the aromas, while Pinot Blanc and Auxerrois lend firmness to the palate. The coat is broad and honeyed, but the chalky grip of limestone on the finish gives it softness. The finish is long, layered and still dense. I'd like to let it stand for a few more years before opening it up.

Grape Varieties

Mambourg 2019 is complantation: all the varieties are planted, picked and fermented together. Pinot Gris does the hard work here:

• Pinot Gris gives weight and honeyed stone fruit.
• Pinot Blanc and Auxerrois give freshness and texture.
• Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier bring structure and red fruit intensity.
• Gewürztraminer, Riesling and Muscat complete the aromatic top notes.

So why the blending? Because Deiss believes it is the vineyard, not the grapes, that should do the talking.

Cellaring Potential

Drink between 2026 and 2040, but the optimal timeframe is around 2030. Blends from Mambourg Vineyard usually gain complexity (mushrooms, dried apricot, smoke) after 10 years; store at 12-14°C. If you open it now, you'll taste the fruit, but you'll miss the best part.

About Marcel Deiss

Almost every Alsace producer puts the grape variety on the label. Marcel Deiss does not, and that has been the case since the late 1990s, when the family dropped varietal names in a region that had built its reputation on Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris. The estate farms 32 hectares around Bergheim, in the Ribeauvillé fault zone, where soils change from one plot to the next like a mosaic. Everything is biodynamic, yields are low, and the vineyards are planted by complantation: 13 Alsatian varieties growing intermixed, picked together, pressed together, fermented together. No blending afterwards. Writing for James Suckling, Stuart Pigott called the Deiss family pioneers of field blends and has been visiting Bergheim since the late 1980s. Grand Crus include Schlossberg, Schoenenbourg, Altenberg de Bergheim and Mambourg.

Terroir & Climate

Mambourg is located in Sigolsheim, one of the warmest regions in Alsace. Why it is so important. The hills form a south-facing amphitheater that traps sunlight, and the soils are calcareous magnesium marls of Oligocene age, laid down on limestone bedrock. The combination of warm sunlight and limestone-rich marls creates wines with moderate acidity, high glycerin content and a rich, almost honeyed character. The altitude is approximately 210-340 meters above sea level. This, combined with the rain shadow of the Vosges, makes it one of the driest and sunniest growing areas in France.

Winemaking

Crucial here is the choice of complantation. The different varieties (Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Auxerrois) are grown side by side, picked together and fermented together. Why? Because Deiss believes the soil, not the grapes, should do the talking. Only indigenous yeasts are used. Aging is 18-24 months in large old foudres. The wine is bottled without filtration. The result is a wine with flavors first of Mambourg and then of the varietal.

Food Pairing

The richness and low acidity of Mambourg requires the introduction of fats and spices. Try:

• Poêlée of foie gras
• the glycerin in the wine matches the texture.
• Munster cheese, a traditional Alsatian pairing.
• Roast pheasant or guinea fowl with chestnuts.
• Thai green curry with chicken, exotic fruit notes favor a mild spiciness.

Serve at 12-14°C; decant 1 hour before serving.