BKWine Pick: Louis Sipp, Ribeauvillé, Alsace

Louis Sipp, Ribeauvillé, Alsace

Louis Sipp makes dry and elegant Alsace wines from grapes grown organically since a few years back. He got his organic certification in 2008. The balance in the most important thing in the wine, he says, and he gets it easier now, with organic grapes. “The grapes are riper and they have a higher degree of acidity at harvest time. The wines are fruitier and longer on the palate.”

Like all producers in Alsace Louis Sipp makes a huge number of wines. One of our favourites is Riesling Grand Cru Osterberg 2008. It’s dry with beautiful citrus aromas on the nose and very fresh in the mouth. The grapes are grown in a rather cool terroir which gives the wine a certain fatness. Riesling Grand Cru Kirchberg 2008 is from a warmer soil with a sunny exposition and the wine is rounder but still totally dry with a good minerality, even sharpness. This is two brilliant Rieslings. Also keep a look out for the Pinot Gris from Louis Sipp, especially the one from Grand Cu Kirchberg. The 2008 has 20 grams of residual sugar but nobody would guess!

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