Domaine de l'Envol - Alsace

Domaine Font Sarade - VignArtea

ALSACE    20 ha     ORGANIC & BIODYNAMIC AGRICULTURE     WINEMAKERS: Hirsinger & Freudenreich families


ESTATE HISTORY


The Domaine de l'Envol, located in Ingersheim to the north of Colmar, was created in 2016 by two winegrowing families who have joined their forces: the Hirsinger family (Ingersheim) and the Jean Freudenreich family (Pfaffenheim), both of whom have been involved in winegrowing activities for many generations.
By joining forces, these two families are able to manage a vineyard totalling 20 hectares, which extends over the communes of Ingersheim, north of Colmar, and Pfaffenheim, south of Colmar, and is spread over a vast mosaic of terroirs, enabling them to offer a wide range of wines with a strong identity.

TERROIR


Alsace's vineyards cover the hillsides from the foothills of the Vosges mountains to the Rhine plain. The varied landscapes of mountains, hills and plains, shaped by the emergence of the Rhine Graben, are the legacy of a turbulent geological history dating back nearly a billion years.



From the edges to the centre of the Rhine Graben, there are three distinct topographical units:

  • The Vosges mountains, between 400 and 1400 m of altitude, reveal the old magmatic rock base that formed the single Vosges-Forêt Noire block. Here you'll find vineyards on granite, gneiss, schist, volcanic formations and sandstone sediments.

  • The sub-Vosgian hills, which range in altitude from 200 to 400 meters, form a narrow strip of land that has collapsed with the ditch, offering a sedimentary cover dating from the secondary era, next to which a fringe of tertiary conglomeratic deposits covers the eastern part of the hills. Most of the vineyards are located on these hills.

  • The alluvial plain occupies the centre of the ditch, at an altitude between 120 and 220 meters. The shallow slope between the hills and plains conceals a major tectonic fault: the Rhine fault, covered by the piedmont glacis. Above the collapsed secondary terrain, the marly Tertiary fill of the ditch (2 to 2.5 km thick) is in turn covered by the Quaternary alluvium of the Vosges and Rhine rivers. This is where the lowland vineyards are located, on the wide alluvial fans of the rivers, but also on the loess deposits brought in by the wind.

The vineyards of Domaine de l'Envol are located on the alluvial plains at Pfaffenheim and on the sub-Vosgesian hills near Ingersheim.



WINEGROWING & WINEMAKING


The vines are grown according to the principles of the Organic and Biodynamics Agriculture since 2010 (AB & Demeter certifications).
No synthetic fertilisers or treatments are used, the aim being to stimulate the plant's natural activity and defences.

The yeast flora, which is naturally present on the grapes, is therefore no longer hindered by any anti-fungal agents and can develop freely on the bloom of the bunches. It is these flora that is responsible for the spontaneous alcoholic fermentation of the must in the cellar.

The grapes are harvested by hand on all of the estate's 20 hectares, which requires a considerable amount of labour. The grapes are picked when they are at their optimum ripeness, which means that harvesting takes between 4 and 6 weeks.

In the cellar, the philosophy is simple: limit inputs and manipulations as much as possible, while guaranteeing flawless and quality wines.
No sugar is added to the must, and the alcoholic and malolactic fermentations are carried out using indigenous yeasts and bacteria.

Varietal wines are generally made in stainless steel vats (and Burgundy barrels for pinot noir), while the terroir wines are made in tuns.
The estate also produces orange wines, or skin maceration wines, which are made in fibreglass vats and then matured in tuns.

I really enjoyed the white varietal blends, whether made in the traditional way or by skin maceration: original, fresh and tasty, they make great summer dinner companions, while the terroir wines have a strong personality, especially the Riesling wines, which are really well made.


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