History
The place called Stein is at the top of the Bollenberg hill. The name Bollenberg derives certainly from “Belen” or “Belanus”, Celtic god of fire in pastoral life.
Stein means stone in German and defines the stony soil of this place.
Location
Clearly separated from the Vosges slopes, the Bollenberg hill extends from Rouffach to Issenheim, a few kilometers north of Guebwiller. The place called Stein is on the ridgeline to the west and made up of the Grande Oolithe’s limestone. It forms compact and dry layers with thin soils. The exceptional climate is due to the geographic location of the hill, that is part of the Guebwiller’s field of faults. The average low rainfall of 350 mm per year is mainly due to the intense summer storms that regulate the great drought, making the Bollenberg hill the driest limestone hill in France.
Wine-making
After a 3 weeks maceration, the wine is then aged in Burgundian oak barrels of 225l and in small capacity casks for approximately 18 months. After a light filtration, the wine is bottled.
Gastronomy
To combine immediately with a red tuna steak with pepper and gratin Dauphinois, a roast duck with red cabbage with cinnamon or a beef tournedos
with cranberries.
Serving temperature 16°.
This wine goes well with
Learn more about food & wine pairingTasting
The color is cherry red with purple reflections, of medium intensity. The disc is shiny, limpid and transparent. The wine presents youth.
The nose is frank, pleasant and intense. We perceive a dominant of fruity scents, blackcurrant, cherry, finely woody. Aeration amplifies these smells and reveals the flowers, the rose, the cocoa and the spices, the cinnamon. The perfect quality of the grapes translates into fair fruit, marvelously underlined by controlled ageing. Great success.
The attack on the palate is slender, silky, the alcohol support is balanced. We evolve on a medium with fine vivacity, marked by sparkling.
We find the range of aromas of the nose, always focused on red fruits, cherry, blackcurrant, flowers, rose, cocoa, spices, cinnamon and always this noble smoky register of breeding. The ripe tannin develops a slightly woody astringency.
The finish presents a good length, 8-9 caudalies, as well as a fine vivacity and a persistent astringency. The balance is slender, elegant. Intelligent breeding underlines the quality of the fruit in a perfect way.
Excellent wine.
Technical sheet by M. Pascal Leonetti « Best Sommelier of France 2006 » April 2023
