2013 Altenberg de Bergheim

When I visited Deiss last summer, Mathieu Deiss complained about the 2015 vintage, calling it “…a very tough year with long fermentations, so I have nothing in bottle yet; in similarly dry years, nitrogen content is low and the yeasts aren’t particularly active”. No worries, for the estate’s 2014s are some of the best of the region. Clearly, there has been a slight shift in winemaking style at the estate with young Mathieu slowly taking over some of the winemaking duties from his father Jean-Michel. While the latter prefers to make deep, rich opulent wines, Mathieu, perhaps more in keeping with his generation and today’s busy lifestyles where brighter wines are increasingly en vogue, tends to make slightly fresher, more vertical wines. No matter, wine quality at Deiss is among the highest in all of Alsace. It is truly a pleasure to listen to father and son banter on about wine.