Why Alsace Now? Josmeyer and Bott-Freres

It's time to take another look at Alsace. Younger winemakers like Paul at Bott-Freres and Céline at Josmeyer are updating traditions, and expanding the scope of ambitions. 

Boundaried by very different winemaking traditions, there’s a notion that Alsace has to overcome paradox to thrive in the 21st century. I see the region’s “cultural crossroads” location as a real asset, a defining virtue, and a key to why Alsatian wines will matter even more in years ahead. By absorbing diverse culinary traditions and accepting that no other place has Alsace’s singular topography and climate, winemakers can break out of the rather hidebound current state of affairs. 

A lot is asked of wineries here. The forces of tourism are strong. As is true in other global oenotoursim hotspots, thirsty vacationers aren’t wholly positive in their impact on overall wine quality. An easy path is presented by visitors with certain preconceptions of what Alsace’s wines are, or should be. They come for storks, choucroute, and munster, washed down with anonymous Edelzwicker, or beer.

The future is bright because the place is distinct. Many correct steps have been taken. There is delineation of terroir in Alsace. Bott-Freres make Riesling in three excellent Grand Cru sites above Ribeauville, fields with clear identities. Josmeyer have vines in two phenomenal Grand Crus in Turckheim. For white wines of such irrepressible character, prices remain moderate. 

Wine fashion will always bend in the direction of undervalued regions. Young wine professionals seek articulate wines they can afford. The death of cultural relevance for a wine region comes when average wine nerds can no longer justify the expense of exploring its facets. When the wines that spark emotion and joy become unattainable, a fade to obsolescence begins. Locked in the cellars of the 1%, the bottles no longer share stories and viewpoints with a diverse drinking community. 

Alsace offers a lot to explore. Poke around for days! Taste vibrant whites from a 100km stretch of the Vosges’ eastern flank, Grand Crus dotted Stasbourg to Mulhouse. Avoid the iconic estates: there’s no reason to break the bank. A lot of organic farming is happening in Alsace. Most overachievers don’t run flagship domaines. Much is left undiscovered. Avoid flabby whites from flatland farms, and low-ambition bulk cellars, and stock the wine fridge with articulate wines that will one day catch hold of the global imagination and soar in price and popularity. You too can become a dusty old codger talking about when that captivating critical darling was abundant, and $25. Prepare for groans and eye rolls. 

A visit to Josmeyer April 2023

It was raining as we drove the short distance from Colmar to Winztzenheim.  In some ways I like rainy day winery visits. It eradicates the possibility of a vineyard tour, and while looking at certified biodynamic fields like those cultivated by Josmeyer can be a delightful, information-rich experience, I’ve seen a lot of vines in the last two decades. Josmeyer cultivate dozens of little parcels, I’m not going to understand their work better by standing in one of them. 

I’d feel differently if the sun was shining. Beautiful spring weather catalyzes my desire for an amble through clover-covered rows. 

We stood under the tree in the center of Josmeyer’s courtyard and dodged errant raindrops. My family had been conscripted for this visit. The kids were sullen. I’d stolen them away from the storefront delights of pedestrian Colmar. Candy, warm drinks topped with whipped cream, entire rooms filled with exotic sugary dried fruits. For them, wine is a drag. But this isn’t a story about them. 

A face emerged in a second-story window. It was our first meeting. Moments later Céline Meyer emerged, and ushered us into a small tasting room. Along with her sister Isabelle, Céline has transformed a space that was probably quite dour in the past (traditional Hansel & Gretel architecture, a heavy wood bar) into a warm, inviting entrance to their domaine. Art is everywhere, and books. It’s unsurprising that the sisters, who both earned fine arts degrees at university, would be tuned in to the details that create the feel of a room. Within the existing framework of a traditional-looking Alsatian winery, that have managed to tone down the masculinity soaked into many comparable spaces by unremitting consecutive generations of patriarchal work structures. 

Josmeyer was established in 1854. The Meyer sisters are the fifth generation for their family to run the farm, and the first generation of women to be in charge. Isabelle is the winemaker. Celine has been the administrator since 2010. And she handles people who show up on their doorstep. Like me. 

The sisters farm 90 small plots that total 25 hectares. The property has been organic and biodynamic since 2000 (certified since 2004.) Every other row in Josmeyer’s vineyard is left unplowed, to encourage biodiversity. Fifteen hectares of their farm is sowed with cover crops, to increase aeration of the soils. They apply herbal tea decoctions (horsetail, wicker, chamomile, and yarrow) to reduce the farm’s dependence on copper and sulfur.  

It's fun to look around at Josmeyer. I learned a lot! The philosophy of the women who run the farm is writ large throughout the winery. Isabelle started making elaborate chalk illustrations on the faces of the foudres in their cellar, in order to feel at home and comfortable in that subterranean space. “She had to make it her own.” Céline stated. Their father had worked in the room, preceded by generations of male Meyers. The drawings speak to the character of the wine contained in these giant ancient vessels. They also give comfort to their current steward. 

And it’s something I haven’t seen before, which is a delight. Cellars vary from tiny stone alcoves to vast industrial warehouses. The Josmeyer space is moderate in scale, a normal underground workplace for a successful commercial winery in eastern France. Without Isabelle’s art to draw us closer, it would be tempting to breeze through the chilly, damp room, and return after a few short minutes to their courtyard. But it’s good to linger. There are things to be learned. The fuders house wine from distinct parcels surrounding Colmar, and copious notes adorn their faces, alongside flowers and girls and moons and dragons. While the art veers toward the fantastic, the effect on cellar guests is to humanize the space. 

“The rustling of the earth, the color of time, the shine of the grapes, the energy of life. This part of the unknown, the precision and the momentum. The emotion of wine, like a poem in the wind.” - Céline Meyer

Read about Josmeyer’s wines here.

Bott-Freres, April 2023

The day after my rainy visit to Josmeyer, I visited Bott-Freres. The latter winery is barely 10 miles to the north, but it is free of the suburban sprawl of Colmar (leafy, bucolic sprawl, but suburbs nonetheless) and therefore feels a tad more picture-postcard Alsatian. 

It looks like a wedding cake, or an elaborate municipal building. The architecture is fancy. Established in 1835, Bott-Freres is a 7th generation family-owned and operated winery in Ribeauvillé, in the heart of vinous Alsace. The two brothers who founded the winery migrated to Alsace from Switzerland. They were originally beer makers. In 1889, the winery moved from the” city center” to its current location. Ribeauvillé in 2023 has 5,000 residents. It was hardly an epic relocation. 

I drove there from Colmar, across the vine-covered plain, and up a gentle slope to the center of this affluent, wine-filled village. It was raining. Bott-Freres is perhaps a kilometer from the center of town. I hustled across the two-lane residential street, and was soaked in seconds, well before reaching the winery’s door. 

Inside the spacious tasting room and wine shop that occupy a significant portion of the first floor, I met Nicole Bott and Gladys Wintermantel, two generations of the family that run this historic property. Sixty percent of the winery’s total production is sold through their own storefront: impressive! Nicole has been working at Bott-Freres since the 1980’s. An effusive advocate for the wine and tourist attractions of Alsace, Nicole is married to Laurent, sixth generation of the Bott family, and the property’s in-house gourmand. Nicole and Laurent’s son Paul started working at the winery in 2008. In “retirement,” Laurent keeps himself busy delivering wine to 100 restaurants scattered across the Bas-Rhin. Not a bad way to get out and about. It beats pickleball. 

Nicole and Gladys shared, in wide-ranging discourse and abundant bottles, a comprehensive view of who Bott-Freres are today. On 17ha of land, the winery grows all seven traditional varieties for the region. The farm has been certified organic since 2022 (two hectares of their vines are still in conversion.) All the farmers in Ribeauvillé banded together to increase healthy farming. A community-wide biodiversity initiative! What a smart development. 

Since 1962, there have been rules in place to limit permissible yields in Alsace AOC wines. Gladys is part of the Alsace wine committee, a group that develops and protects these quality-driven directives. Today, maximum yield is set at 60hl/ha in the area. Bott-Freres aim for 50hl/ha in their wines. Lower permissible yields are central to rehabilitating Alsace’s reputation in France. For a while things got out of hand. 

Average vine age at the domaine is 35 years. Along with two helpers, Paul farms 45 distinct parcels of land. I didn’t meet him. Understandable. Sounds like he’s perpetually busy. 

The tasting room was decorated for Easter. Felt bunnies, pastel eggs. Adorable. We passed through the public space and into a working part of the winery, filled with the normal array of bottling and fermentation equipment. Label machines. With the modern equipment we surveyed, Gladys noted they can now label 2,000 bottles per hour. They have a press on this level of the building that can be positioned above fermentation vats in the cellar below. Highly efficient.

The sun emerged. We popped outside, to survey fields stretching east from their wide balcony, parcels flattening as they march toward the Rhine. We were facing the Black Forest, one hour away by car. On a clear day you can see it. One million years ago, between these Vosges slopes and the forest on the horizon, the land collapsed, and became a shallow sea. Fossilized seashells are often found here, buried in the clay/limestone soil. 

In spite of personal experience to the contrary, Alsace is the second driest region of France. The Vosges mountains block threatening storm fronts. Gladys and I left the veranda, chased by wind and black clouds. We descended into the winery’s labyrinth of subterranean spaces. In dim light, enormous füders filled a room. A 16,000 liter barrel dominates the space, holding court like a retired monarch. It was built in 1899 for the World’s Fair. The “new cellar” built 50 years ago is filled with cement and stainless steel.  The winery’s storage and aging needs have changed from generations past. Many ancient casks have become decoration. However, the Bott family still vinify wines in 7,000 liter oak casks. 

Antique bottles wrapped in cellophane filled a locked wine closet. We wound through passageways, past a museum's-worth of retired farming equipment. Family elders were quite attached to these historical artifacts. They are presented with reverence, and plenty of context. It’s fascinating to see bottle labels amended across eras of Alsace’s history. From 1871-1918 everything was legally required to be in German. So, across the span of almost two centuries, their bottles switch from French to German, and back again. 

View Bott Frères’ wines here.