Gustave Lorentz Grand Cru Altenberg de Bergheim Vieilles Vignes Riesling (organic) 2017 

Tasting Notes

Mid gold colour. Very ripe fruit including whiff of raisins, over-ripe lemons, cooked apples, and a hint of cinnamon and star anise. Rich and intense fruit that is super long and lingering. Dry, authoritative finish. Full-bodied. Outstanding! Very versatile with food. The 2019 vintage won Best in Show and 97 points at the United Kingdom’s prestigious Decanter World Wine Awards 2023. “Vieilles Vignes” means “Old Vines” which are between 30 and 50 years. The House of Gustave Lorentz was founded in 1836 in Bergheim. The story-book fortified village is famed for its colourful houses and its wines. Some one hundred years before that, in 1748, winegrower and blacksmith Jean-Georges Lorentz became the first of his family to settle in Bergheim from Ribeauville, another village in Alsace in north-east France. In 1995, seventh-generation descendant Georges Lorentz assumed management of the house and estate which owns 33 hectares of vineyard on the hillsides of Bergheim. Of that, 12.8 hectares are in Grand Cru Altenberg de Bergheim and 1.75 hectares in Grand Cru Kanzlerberg. Fully conscious of his responsibility to the environment, in 2009, Georges Lorentz converted the family’s vineyards to organic farming, earning official certification from the 2012 vintage. Eight-generation youngest daughter Clara will be the next winemaker. The Lorentz Family is a household name in Bergheim.