Domaine Pierre Frick - Jean-Pierre, Chantal and Thomas Frick

Our family, PIERRE FRICK, has been involved in the vineyard for generations and tends 12 hectares of vines. Six people handle the various tasks: soil care, vine maintenance and care of the surrounding environment, winemaking and aging in large oak casks, bottling, packaging, sales (wine cellar door, wine fairs, export), written communications, and welcoming numerous wine enthusiasts. Around twenty grape harvesters join the team in the autumn for the harvest.

The vines are spread across some thirty plots, a mosaic of a dozen predominantly limestone terroirs, some as far apart as 15 km. These vineyard plots, located on fracture zones of the Rhine Graben, are highly diverse in their soil and exposure, reflecting their character in the wines: named vineyard sites such as Bergweingarten, Rot Murlé, Bihl, Stein, Strangenberg, Lerchenberg, and Krottenfues (Carrière). The Grand Cru vineyards of Steinert, Vorbourg, and Eichberg are the most distinctive. The fragmentation of our vineyard plots is a strength. Our numerous Alsatian grape varieties choose their specific location based on the soil and exposure. This allows us to produce 25 to 30 unique cuvées each year. However, this fragmentation requires significantly more work than a single walled vineyard. Indeed, each site has its own unique dynamics, shaped by its history, soil, climate, and the constraints of its configuration – and thus requires specific care. Only grapes from the plots we meticulously tend are vinified, bottled, and marketed by the Domaine. Since 1970, our vines have been cultivated organically, which excludes the use of herbicides, fertilizers, and synthetic chemical treatments. Our production is certified by ECOCERT. In 1981, we embraced biodynamic farming, which places agriculture within a broader framework of forces. Our aim is to enhance the vitality of the soils, vines, grape juice, and wines through harmonious work in the cellar. Our wines bear the DEMETER designation. The salinity and depth of a wine, as well as its energy level, depend on the vine and its deep roots in living soil. Sowing annual companion plants (mainly legumes) aerates the soil, enriching it with organic matter and microbial life. This microbial life makes all the soil's minerals available to the vine roots, which then dissolve into the sap and migrate to the grape clusters. To ensure that the vine's energy is fully available to withstand various stresses (weather and pests) and bring its wood and fruit to maturity, we do not prune the shoots in summer. Instead, we weave them into the top of the trellis, preventing the vine from suffering multiple wounds that would need healing. This leaves the terminal buds intact, as they play a hormonally regulating role for the plant. The result is also a more organic and inviting appearance for the vine, even into winter when it is leafless. The harvesting and manual sorting of the grapes takes place over four to five weeks. The harvested grapes are pressed whole, without crushing, and sometimes macerated for a few days. The juices are not sulfited and ferment with their indigenous yeasts. They remain a true reflection of their origin. They are not enriched by the addition of sugar (chaptalization) or by the removal of water (reverse osmosis or vacuum boiling). Acidity is not adjusted. The wines are not fined. They are simply racked (separated from the initial fermentation sediments). Aging on fine lees takes place for 6 to 9 months in century-old oak casks. During this slow gestation, without the interference of added sulfites, the wine remains free to follow its natural path of mineralization. The final result is tasted like "pure plant water." However, this stage requires constant monitoring, punctuated by aeration of the batches when an imbalance affects their microbial life. Bottling is the final step, which can ruin all the respect shown to the young wine during its aging. We don't use a service provider, which would force us to concentrate this work into two or three days and resort to sterile filtration. On the contrary, we spread the bottling over several weeks, depending on the wines' development and on favorable dates (the planetary and tidal calendar). Each year, a few cuvées are bottled unfiltered. The others are filtered only through cellulose pads on the day of bottling, to best preserve their integrity. Our ideal is bottling without the addition of sulfites to obtain "Pure Wines," which represent 90% of our current aging volume. The emergence of wines that are alive and vibrant, like works of art, each unique and unrepeatable, is the culmination of this long, artisanal process, from the vineyard to the cellar. The patience invested in aging these wines is rewarded by their longevity in the bottle. Tasting them requires being present: "Take your time and give the wine time." A vintage, which has evolved within the restricted volume of the bottle, is released into the space of a glass and into contact with the air… Let the alchemy of its aromas and flavors unfold, like a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis…