Riesling Grand Cru Sommerberg Jeunes Vignes, Domaine Albert Boxler 2023

Albert Boxler, from whom the domaine takes its name, was the grandfather of current owner and winemaker Jean and was the man who took the initiative to bottle his own wines just after the Second World War. The beautiful label that is still in use today was painted at that time by Albert’s cousin.

Jean Boxler took over from his father Jean-Marc in 1996 at a tender age but quickly became one of the most highly regarded winemakers in Alsace and indisputably one of the winemakers of his generation. The cellars and family home are to be found at the very foot of the grand cru Sommerberg vineyard, in the village of Niedermorchwihr not far from Colmar, where Jean makes wine from separate parcels of vines within this great granite hillside, making some as grand cru but also declassifying some into his reserve wines.

Jean works the land by hand, personally with a small team, and organically (though he eschews labelling the wines as such ‘why should I seek outside approval for doing the right thing?’). Riesling, pinot gris, pinot blanc, gewurztraminer, sylvaner and muscat are all produced, as well as some fine sparkling Crémant wines, using traditional methods and ageing in oak foudres. Yields are low and production is tiny.

To differentiate between the bottled parcels the Boxlers use a code on each label so that consumers can know the source of the grapes for each bottling without the domaine breaching the labelling laws of the Alsace appellation. So, for example, a B on the label represents the grand cru Brand vineyard in which the family own vines, while E represents Eckberg, a lieu-dit within the Sommerberg, and D equals Duttenstein, also part of the Sommerberg.