Grand Cru d'Alsace "Vorbourg"

Situated at the south of the Alsace wine region, and protected by the two Vosges peaks of the Petit and the Grand Ballon, the Vorbourg enjoys one of the driest and sunniest climates of the region. The 73,61 ha of the Vorbourg face south-south-east. Its limestone-marl soil is established on conglomerates with pebbles of sandstone and oolithic limestone, covered on its lower slopes by a superficial layer of loess. Grapes reach early maturity on this slope and regularly benefit from botrytis (noble rot). The choice microclimate, pebbly limestone soil and low yields of the Vorbourg enable Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris and Muscat to reveal their specific character. When Bishop Heddo of Strasbourg founded the convent of Ettenheim in 762, he bequeathed to it the ancestral vines of the Vorbourg of rouffach. The bishop also left fine Vorbourg vineyards to the Eschau foundation. According to the historian Theobald Walter, there was hardly any religious foundation that did not obtain great benefit from the work of the winegrowers of rouffach... The Vorbourg produces fine, powerful wines that age well and thus develop aromas of peach, apricot, mint, hazelnut...