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Alsace beckons you across the Vosges Mountains to peerless vineyards
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Domaine Marcel Deiss has turned the lens back to terroir and the results are profound. The wines combine the focused varietal character for which Alsace is known with a distinctive sense of place. Biodynamic since 1997, Domaine Marcel Deiss is all about its land and the wine it bears. Share a bottle with friends and family and relish a taste of Alsace today.
Share the love of friendship and family by sending Domaine Marcel Deiss to those you hold dear. Wines may be shipped wherever permitted by law and if you have ever received wine through the post you know the excitement it stirs. Go on then! |
| Offer runs through Thursday, March 25th 2010 |
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Protected from the west by the Vosges, Alsace is blessed with ideal terroir for grape growing
 | Alsace
Tucked into the northeast corner of France, the region of Alsace rests upon the east facing foothills of the Vosges Mountains. Despite the northern continental climate, the region is well suited for viticulture because of the temperate River Rhin and the Vosges Mountains that protect the region from the strong winds and heavy rains from Lorraine in the west. Many grape varieties thrive here including Gewurtztraminer, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Muscat, Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc and Sylvaner. Varietal character is the goal of local winemaking which is why stainless steel and tartrate encrusted barrels are so often found. In the last century Alsace made a name for itself with varietal wines emphasizing the merits of the specific grape variety labeled. This is partly because the region is comprised of small vineyards that sell into cooperatives that blend and thereby dilute the wine's expression of specific terroir. A small handful of domaines have taken up the mantle to craft exceptional wines of both varietal and terroir. One such house is Domaines Marcel Deiss. | |
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The descendant of a family of wine growers who settled in Bergheim in 1744, Marcel Deiss created the Domaine Marcel Deiss in 1947. However, it is with Marcel's grandson, Jean-Michel Deiss, that the modern era of the Estate was fostered. Jean-Michel rejects varietal purity in favor of vineyard expression. As much philosopher as wine grower, he seeks the maximum expression from each of his vineyards. His goal is low vigor in order to drive the vines' roots deep and thereby transmit the character of the subsoil. His philosophy begins in the vineyards, and he believes the character of a great site must express itself regardless of the grape variety planted. The Deiss vineyards have been organically farmed for over 20 years, and biodynamic since 1997. Most of the Estate's 67 acres are co-planted with a mixture of Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris along with other noble varieties. This fact in itself is not unusual in Alsace since many Grand Cru sites include a number of varieties. However, rather than separating them and bottling them as varietal wines, Jean-Michel treats them as a true field blend, and consequently harvests, vinifies and blends them together. The French regulations formerly permitted Grand Cru blends only if the blend was declared on the label. Jean-Michel refuted this idea, believing strongly that Grand cru terroirs must dominate varietal characters. His Grand Cru wines were therefore labeled in violation of former wine regulations, until the French authorities validated his ideas by changing the AOC laws in June 2005. Jean-Michel Deiss' project is today perceived by many of his neighbors as radical, even revolutionary. In reality, his goal is a return to the methods, style, and traditions that gave Alsace wines such fame and fortune from the Middle Ages until the end of the 19th century.
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Domaine Marcel Deiss has turned the lens back to terroir and the results are profound. The wines combine the focused varietal character for which Alsace is known with a distinctive sense of place. Biodynamic since 1997, Domaine Marcel Deiss is all about its land and the wine it bears. Share a bottle with friends and family and relish a taste of Alsace today.
Share the love of friendship and family by sending Domaine Marcel Deiss to those you hold dear. Wines may be shipped wherever permitted by law and if you have ever received wine through the post you know the excitement it stirs. Go on then! |
| Offer runs through Thursday, March 25th 2010 |
|
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