Alsace Continued: A New Generation Arises

BY IAN D'AGATA | MAY 29, 2018

One of the most exciting, even fun, things about my life devoted to wine is having had the privilege to live through those precise moments in time when a new generation begins to take over at family wineries. Currently this is happening all over Italy, where regions like Piedmont, Basilicata and Abruzzo are brimming with the new looks and ideas of young winemakers slowly easing into the footsteps of their parents. And this is also so true of Alsace, an area where the current generation of young vituclurists and winemakers bring a fresh, new approach to the region’s wine game.

Typical Alsation scenery

In fact, over the last three years or so and led by Mathieu Deiss, son of Jean-Michel Deiss of Marcel Deiss, many same-aged friends have banded together and formed an association (as of yet unofficial) of young vignerons, which I will refer to as “generation terroir” or jeunes vignerons d’Alsace, for lack of a better term. The group has grown to truly noteworthy numbers (roughly seventy members) in a relatively short time. I remember well when only a few years ago I was sitting in the Deiss family home with seven or eight of them explaining to me what their plans were for the future. Best of all, these young men and women are for the most part genuine friends. They socialize, travel together and exchange views, experiences and ideas. Quite honestly, it’s great to see.