Binner

Alsace wine producer: Daniel Wiederhirn, Riquewihr

Daniel and Anita Wiederhirn are model family farmers. A couple that loves the soil and what nature brings, obviously pleased to see the results of the efforts on bottle.

Wiederhirn has first class terroirs and old vines. They own a typical and portfolio of vineyards, including the three Grands Crus Schoenenbourg and Sporen in Riquewihr and on Grands Crus Mandelberg in Mittlewihr. The vines on Schoenenbourg were planted in the 1920s!

The wines are consistent and of a very high standard. The style is full, sometimes with some residual sugar, but never flabby. No malo-lactic fermentation is permitted.

Wiederhirn avoids addition of sorbate, a common additive, since Daniel Wiederhirn himself gets a stomach pain from the preservative. Instead, Wiederhirn advocates slow and very careful filtering prior to bottling. The wines of Wiederhirn stay youthfully green, apparently forever, why is yet a mystery.

In 2005, I had the privilege to taste old and rare Pinot Gris wines in the historic 17th century cellars in Riquewihr. The 1989 Résérve Personelle was still very vital, as was the 1981. Both were gorgeous, the bouquet was smoky and complex, the taste full and fresh and some 30 g/liter of sugar was perfectly integrated in the long taste. Remarquable!

As the daughter is on an academic track, after a one-year stay at my own department at Lund University, the succession is uncertain.

Latest visit: 2005

alttext

Facts

Key persons
Daniel and Anita Wiederhirn.
Address
7, rue du Cheval close to the church in southern Riquewihr.
Contact
+33 (0)389 47 92 10
+33 (0)389 49 06 45 (fax)
Price range (2005)
Riesling Génerique €5.50
Riesling Schoenenbourg €9
Riesling Schoenenbourg VV €13
Style
Fruit wines made for cellaring.
Reception
Warm, friendly and enthusiastic. No English.
Terroir
Grands Crus: Mandelberg, Schoenenbourg, Sporen
Lieux-dits: -

alttext

Selected representative wines 2005

Hidden Treasure
2002 Pinot Gris Réserve Personelle Very typical aroma of smoke and Champignons de Paris, dried fruits and honey. Full, juicy, smoky taste with vibrant acidity.
Basic Riesling
2002 Riesling Coming from an alluvial soil just above Kientzheim, this wine is quite "nervous". The aroma is straight forward, offering green apples and citrus, The taste is very pure, a bit one-dimensional but not the least heavy.
Top Range Riesling
2002 Riesling Grand Cru Schoenenbourg Vielle vignes Huge, fruity aroma with loads of citrus and emerging minerality. The taste has typical grapefruit notes and the coarse structure that is a hallmark of young Schoenenbourg. The low yields of the 80 year old vines gives some sweetness that will be integrated after 7 years.
Most Exciting Wine
2002 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Sporen Complex, exotic, smoky and spicy aroma with great depth. Focused litchee taste, some sugar, but with a good backbone and without a sign of stickiness.