Biodynamic. The Schlossberg hill has long been revered as one of the world’s most outstanding Riesling vineyards. It’s a granitic outcrop that rises north of Kaysersberg and Kientzheim to an altitude of 230-350 metres. The quality of Schlossberg’s wines was established as early as the 15th century, and this was the first vineyard in Alsace to receive Grand Cru status in 1975. With their eight hectares, the Faller family are the largest landowners in Schlossberg. They make an extraordinary series of Rieslings from the hill, parcellated and bottled according to vine age and altitude.
This wine is from three of the family’s highest parcels of vines at the top of the slope (between 320 and 420 metres). The soils are shallow and rocky—very mineral—with eroded granite with a reddish tinge and a high magnesium content. This combination of altitude, low-vigour soils and paltry yields is potent and results in a deep, dry, mineral Riesling with intense freshness to balance the wine’s flesh. Twenty years will not weary it.