Éveil Blanc - 2022
Domaine Einhart
- Region
- France » Alsace » Alsace AOC
- Type
- white still, dry
- Producer
- Domaine Einhart
- Vintage
- 2022
- Grapes
- Riesling, Auxerrois blanc
- Alcohol
- 12.5
- Volume
- 750 mL
- Cellar
- not available
Again and again the Muschelkalk (see below), once again magnified by the Einhart estate! And exclusively Culinaries to boot. This Éveil vintage offers an extraordinary taste experience, on a par with the complex and nuanced vintages to which Théo Einhart has accustomed us, marked by the minerality of the purest oolitic limestones of Alsace.
Éveil is a social, sociable and additive-free dry white wine that will shine on any occasion and in any season, although we find it very suitable for summer temperatures and Indian summer. The color is golden white, bright, and the first nose perceives delicate aromas of white fruits as well as a light floral touch. The freshness is evident on the palate, well supported by the minerality of the Muschelkalk terroir, a silty-clayey-limestone soil characteristic of this Alsatian terroir. A subtle salinity, a calcareous horizontality, typical of the Einhart style. The finesse and liveliness are based on a full and tense note in the background.
All these qualities are perfectly balanced, giving this wine an eminently convivial character. Riesling (30%) and Auxerrois (70%) come together to form this very well-built wine, made for sharing and friendship. Still young and revealing nothing of its complexity and robustness, Éveil promises to acquire very becoming notes of maturity over the months. The vines, aged around twenty-five years, grow at the top of cool and windy hillsides, facing south. They are harvested by hand, then put into direct pressing with a dip of the berries on the juice for twenty-four hours, which encourages the start of fermentation by indigenous yeasts. The authenticity of the terroir is preserved by these practices. The aging continues for eight months in Pinot Noir barrels, on fine lees, highlighting the freshness and drinkability. Serve this beautiful vintage between 8 °C and 10 °C.
You can drink it now or keep it for a few years to benefit from its potential for evolution, always interesting with wines from limestone terroir. Note also that this wine, of unfailing solidity, bears the Einhart trademark: from experience, a bottle was able to last ten days in the refrigerator without a cork and did not move an inch. Do not look too hard for perfect pairings, this all-terrain wine will harmonize with everything you like. And especially with those you like.
Located in the northern part of the Alsatian vineyard, horizontally above Strasbourg, the Einhart estate is a ten-hectare family property whose vines are located on the hillsides that rise between the Alsace plain and the Vosges mountains. The soil is clay-limestone and rich in fossils (muschelkalk, i.e. shell limestone and oolite limestone, and lettenkohle or dolomitic limestone). Since 1990, Nicolas Einhart has been at the helm, now assisted by his son Théo. True to his commitments made to the TIFLO association, of which he is co-founder, Nicolas devotes his winemaking work to protecting the land and biodiversity, winemaking without inputs, refusing harmful phytosanitary products and maintaining ecological refuge areas. His estate has been certified organic since 2011. Like Jean-Marc Dreyer , he is resolutely moving towards skin maceration and produces white maceration wines (orange wines) in addition to a red Pinot Noir. Entirely manual harvests, destemming of the bunches, light punching down and delicate pressing are characteristic of the estate, as well as the separate vinification of each terroir, aging on lees and the absence of filtration before bottling. The wines are pure grape, lively, powerful, tonic, and transcribe the minerality of the very beautiful terroirs of the Vosges foothills.
— Culinaries
Ratings
After reading the tasting notes from Culinaries, it almost feels like we've tasted different wines. The one in my glass is a typical orange wine, yet nothing fascinating. There's also a thick layer of brett that hides all the fruit. Simple, a bit fizzy, and bitter in the finish with a funny moonshine-like touch. Not my cup of tea.