Description
Félix Meyer is one of the bright stars in Alsace producing excellent wines from his property in Katzenthal. There are records stating that the Swiss family Meyer arrived in Katzenthal in 1732. Domaine Meyer-Fonné dates back three generations with Felix Meyer taking over the cellar from his father in 1992. Having first modernised the equipment in the winery, then developing export sales, Félix is now expanding the family holdings in many of Alsace’s great vineyard sites. Today, he works 15 hectares over seven different communes, including five in notable Grand Cru locations.
What makes Meyer-Fonné wines so special? “Our vineyards are now mostly located on the hillsides, so the historic part of the Alsatian vineyards“, says Félix. Only about 25% of the current holdings of 14 hectares of vines are located in the valley floor and are exclusively planted with either Pinot Blanc or Auxerrois.
All the noble grape varieties, however, are cultivated in historic vineyards in the hillsides, which give predominantly dry and nervy, terroir-driven wines full of expression and mineral tension. There are no less than five Grand Cru vineyards—Kaefferkopf, Wineck-Schlossberg, Sporen, Furstentum and Schoenenbourg—that are organically farmed and cultivated and they all give deep, racy and firmly structured wines that intermix ripe fruit flavors and seductive textures with a vital and mineral backbone.
Add the excellent Premier Crus of Pfoeller, Dorfburg and Altenbourg, and you are standing in front of an armada of complex, terroir-driven wines; the Schoenenbourg and Kaefferkopf Riesling—as well as the Gewurztraminers from the Sporen, Kaefferkopf and the Furstentum Grand Crus—are just outstanding.
Meyer’s Riesling Pfoeller deserves special mention, it is from Muschelkalk soils right next to the granitic Sommerberg Grand Cru – in fact it is an extension of that vineyard, is one of the finest Premier Crus you can find in all of Alsace!
The winemaking is very traditional here, since most of the investments have been made in the low-yielding vineyards, with top old-vines parcels in the best sites, high density plantings and the vitalization of the soils. No synthetic fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides are used at all.
The fermentation of the naturally cleared musts takes place with native yeasts in either stainless steel or traditional oak, and after racking, the wines are kept on the lees until May (Alsace AOC) and respectively September (single vineyards) before bottling. Notes from Importer, Andrew Guard.
About this wine: This dry Alsace Riesling is always a superb wine for the price as it contains fruit from the younger vines from the estate (no purchased fruit), some from Grand Cru sources, particularly Wineck-Schlossberg. This year again it shows precise and very vibrant aromas of crisp bright citrus fruits and red apple with an attractive floral lift. Fresh and tactile, with a supple mouthfeel that glides into a sizzling finish. It finishes dry, saline, full and long. This is always a superb dry Riesling and is most definitely in 2020.
“I love Alsatian Rieslings because I find them more serious than their German counterparts. Maybe this has to do with sweetness. Don’t get me wrong. I am a big fan of German Rieslings as well, but they can be so fruity and often a touch too sweet for my cuisine. Alsatians typically ferment their Rieslings totally dry. Meyer’s version is a mélange of different terroirs around his domaine in Katzenthal, and is a precise, dry, minerally Riesling loaded with character. It is difficult to find better.” —Kermit Lynch
RRP $51 Our Price $47.99 – Very limited – while stocks last
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