Louis Sipp: Riesling Kirchberg de
Ribeauvillé 1971 – 2014

BY
IAN D'AGATA | OCTOBER 18, 2017

The
story goes that the Louis Sipp estate was founded at the end of World War I by,
you guessed it, Louis Sipp. In fact, the real founder of the estate was his
wife, Louise Sipp, who bought the estate’s first vineyards while her husband
was still away on the Russian front. It was during this time that the fledgling
estate first bought oak casks, some of which are still visible at the winery to
this day. Louise, tellingly nicknamed l’intrepide&nbsp; (or the “intrepid one”) must have been a forward
thinking lady; as enterprising women were frowned upon during this time. Not
surprisingly, the estate took her husband’s name. Today the winery is run by
Etienne Sipp, who took over in 1996 and now owns about sixty hectares of vines.
Sipp also buys grapes from growers with whom the family has longstanding
running collaborative agreements. Sipp has farmed his own vineyards organically
since 2005 and gained Ecocert certification in 2008.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1508260596950-Copie+-+Pano+-+_SIP0874+-+7533x2974+-+SLIN+-+Groupe+d%27image+cropped.jpg"> Kirchberg de Ribeauvillé&nbsp;Grand Cru to the left and Geisberg Grand Cru to the right 

Ribeauvillé’s Distinctive Terroir

The Louis Sipp winery is located in
the heart of Ribeauvillé, one of Alsace’s most famous and prettiest towns. The
vineyards are blessed with complex geology and soils that are characterized by
varying amounts of limestone, clay and marl, with pockets of loam and
sandstone. Ribeauvillé is also characterized by a dry (only about 550-650mm of
water a year) and relatively cool climate&nbsp;
thanks to the presence
of katabatic winds&nbsp;(from the Greek word katabaino
, or “to go down”; therefore, the term “katabatic” refers to downslope&nbsp;winds flowing from higher elevations
to the valleys or plains below). Also, Ribeauvillé sits at the exit of a
long valley, which acts as a funneling agent for the winds. This topographical
feature further increases the effect of the naturally occurring winds. The cool
microclimate helps preserve acidity in the grapes, increases diurnal
temperature variations and lengthens the time between flowering and harvest,
which means the grapes enjoy long hang time. This combination of factors
results in wines of complexity and noteworthy aromatic expression. <img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1508260710167-Etienne+Sipp.jpg"> 

Etienne SippThe Kirchberg de Ribeauvillé Grand Cru&nbsp;

Louis Sipp makes wines from two grand crus; Kirchberg de Ribeauvillé and
Osterberg. Not to be confused with the similarly named Kirchberg de Barr (the
Kirchberg cru that is associated with the town of Barr), the Kirchberg de
Ribeauvillé is much smaller (the latter is roughly 11.5 hectares large compared
to the former’s 40 hectares). Kirchberg de Ribeauvillé has long enjoyed a very
good reputation. Its existence was first documented in 1328 and the name was long used
as a lieu-dit on labels long before Alsace’s
Grand Crus were officially
determined. The site has a mainly south, south-west facing exposure. The vineyard
starts steep, then flattens somewhat as it climbs upwards from about 270 to 350
meters above sea level. The site has always been associated with firm,
powerful, long-lived Rieslings (the Muscat varieties have always performed well
too.) Louis Sipp has always been one of the best, if not the best producer, of
Kirchberg de Ribeauvillé Riesling. The estate’s Kirchberg vines are tightly
spaced (up to 8300 vines/ha) and are approximately forty years old. The
vineyards are located in two main parcels; one situated on the fully
south-exposed steep lower part of the slope and the other in the historic
center of the Grand Cru.

The mainly marly-clay and sandstone
soil and cool microclimate combine to give very austere Rieslings characterized
by bright, almost piercing acidity when young, but Kirchberg wines also have a broad,
large mouthfeel and a powerful spine. Rieslings from this site often exhibit spicy
and mentholated character. If and when grapes are hit by noble rot, then the
wines develop a creamier, fatter mouthfeel. Generally speaking, I find the
Kirchberg Rieslings to develop slowly in the bottle. Louis Sipp’s wines are
especially age-worthy. In my experience the wines need about eight to ten years
for their mineral and fruity components to emerge fully. Sipp ages his
Kirchberg Riesling in large, used oak barrels, and leaves them anywhere from
eight to twelve months on the lees depending on the vintage, which further adds
to the wines’ complexity.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1508260643905-The+vertical+and+other+wines+tasted+at+Sipp.jpg"> 

The vertical and other wines tasted at Sipp In 2004, Sipp changed the estate’s
labels, providing consumers with information by way of simple graphic aids. For
example, the Kirchberg label has a plunging diagonal line running from left to
right indicating the slope’s steep gradient, the sun is depicted in an off-center
position in the bottom half of the label (meaning this is a site that has a
mainly south-west exposure) and the soil type of loosely-textured stony
marly-clay-sandstone is shown in two small rectangles at the very top and
bottom of the label.

All the following wines were sourced
directly at the winery and were tasted in Ribeauvillé last September 2016.<a target="_blank" href="http://vinous.com/wines?sort%5Bdirection%5D=asc&amp;sort%5Bname%5D=id&amp;wine_filter%5Barticle_id%5D=1743&amp;wine_filter%5Bproducer_id%5D=22014&amp;producer=true">See the Wines from Youngest to Oldest</a>You Might Also Enjoy<a target="_blank" href="http://vinous.com/articles/alsace-the-2015s-and-late-released-2014s-mar-2017?action=show&amp;controller=articles&amp;id=alsace-the-2015s-and-late-released-2014s-mar-2017">Alsace: The 2015s and Late-Released 2014s</a>, Ian D'Agata, March 2017 <a target="_blank" href="http://vinous.com/articles/weinbach-riesling-schlossberg-cuvee-ste-catherine-1990-2011-nov-2016">Weinbach Riesling Schlossberg Cuvée Ste. Catherine: 1990-2011</a>, Ian D'Agata, November 2016<a target="_blank" href="http://vinous.com/articles/trimbach-riesling-clos-ste-hune-1966-2010-oct-2016">Trimbach: Riesling Clos Ste. Hune 1966-2010</a>, Antonio Galloni, October 2016&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://vinous.com/articles/zind-humbrecht-s-pinot-gris-clos-saint-urbain-rangen-de-thann-1983-2013-jun-2016">Zind-Humbrecht’s Pinot Gris Clos Saint Urbain Rangen de Thann 1983-2013</a>,&nbsp;Ian D'Agata,&nbsp;June 2016<a target="_blank" href="http://vinous.com/articles/vertical-tasting-of-domaine-dirler-cade-s-sylvaner-may-2016">Vertical Tasting of Domaine Dirler-Cadé’s Sylvaner</a>, Ian D'Agata, May 2016

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