Crémant d'Alsace Extra-Brut Prestige, Domaine Paul Ginglinger 2020

Paul Ginglinger’s family has been making wine for an incredible 13 generations (since 1610!), and the current generation – Michel Ginglinger and his wife Loreto – took over from Paul in 2000.

The estate is located five miles south of Colmar in the village of Eguisheim, home to some of the oldest vineyards in Alsace, with records of vines here since the Roman times.

There are 13 hectares of vines in total, planted on east and south-east-facing slopes of marl-rich granite soils over clay, in what is described as ‘the sunniest corner of Alsace’. The vineyards are between 220 and 340 metres above sea level, and are protected from the winds by the foothills of the Vosges mountains. A portion of the estate’s vines are in two of the area’s grand cru vineyards, Eichberg and Pfersigberg.

Eichberg – situated at the foot of Eguisheim’s three castles – has a particularly hot and dry climate, and the vines are planted on gentle east and south-facing slopes of deep clay-marl and sandstone. It isn’t an easy vineyard to manage, and needs constant attention from the viticultural team. Pfersigberg has soft, well-drained soils of lime-rich marl over sandstone and muschelkalk – a mixture of limestone and dolomite rock.

The team manages the vineyards plot by plot, and although the domaine isn’t certified organic, it uses only organic treatments and no herbicides. The harvest is carried out by hand.

In the winery, Michel brings his experience from managing cellars in Burgundy, Champagne, South Africa and Chile. Grapes are fed into tanks using just gravity, rather than pumps, which prevents over-handling. The wines spend some time ageing on their lees for adding refinement and strength of character.