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
I like to combine it, at the table, with a smoked ham such as prisuttu, poultry stuffed with mushrooms, creamy polenta and red fruit coulis or a veal steak with chanterelles coulis.
Serving temperature: 15°C.
This wine goes well with
Learn more about food & wine pairingTasting
The color is ruby red with violet reflections, of good intensity. The disc is shiny, limpid, and transparent. The wine presents a beautiful youth.
The nose is frank, pleasant, and intense. Racy, we perceive a dominant scent of red fruits, cherry, blackcurrant, flowers, rose, finely woody. Aeration amplifies these smells and reveals spices, pepper, cinnamon, humus, sandalwood, and a noble vanilla register. The sanitary state of the grapes radiates in this nose with a rare brilliance. In perfect harmony, breeding magnifies everything. Excellent work!!!
The attack on the palate is slender, the alcohol support balanced. We evolve on a lively medium, where we find the range of aromas of the nose. Always focused on red fruits, blackcurrant, cherry, flowers, rose, spices, cinnamon, pepper, humus and this noble woody register of sandalwood, vanilla. The tannic structure marks a fine astringency. The finish presents a great length, 11-12 caudalies, as well as a fine vivacity and a slight persistent astringency.
At this stage, the balance is remarkable. Elegance and distinction are the hallmarks of this luminous Pinot Noir. A must in the area.
