Albert Boxler, Grand Cru 'Sommerberg Wibtal,' Pinot Gris, Alsace, France, 2021

Overview of the Wine
The small family domaine in France that works traditionally using techniques and savoir faire passed down across multiple generations is under serious threat today. Consolidation, technology, regulation, foreign investment, globalization, and many other factors (all in the name of progress), threaten the great agricultural tradition of winegrowing in France, arguably the world’s greatest winegrowing culture. Few domaines in France embody this way of life more ably and proudly than Domaine Albert Boxler in Niedermorschwihr. Jean Boxler, many generations removed from his ancestor of the same name that moved here from Switzerland in 1673, currently rules the roost at this humble yet incredibly exciting domaine. Intense and serious about his land, his craft, and his wine, Jean is the genius behind what are certainly some of the finest white wines in Alsace (and the world).

The family’s holdings are centered around the ancient village of Niedermorschwihr in the Haut-Rhin, dominated by the imposing granite hillside grand cru, Sommerberg. Jean vinifies micro-parcels within this cru separately, de-classifying some into his Réserve wines and producing multiple bottlings of Sommerberg from the different lieux-dits depending on the vintage. Sommerberg gives racy, intensely structured, very long-lived wines. Riesling, Pinot Gris, and Pinot Blanc are the specialties of the domaine, Jean also produces one of Alsace’s best Crémants (and Edelzwickers), an incredible Gewurztraminer grown in limestone, and some of the most hauntingly pure Vendanges Tardives and SGNs in all of Alsace. If that weren’t enough, the Boxlers also own land in the powerful grand cru Brand, the ultimate counterpart to their holdings in Sommerberg.

The Sommerberg hillside terminates in Jean’s driveway, making it easy to basically live in the vineyards, ensuring exceptionally healthy fruit year after year. After harvest, the wines are vinified and aged in old foudres in a small cellar underneath the family home until bottling. Not much has changed over the centuries; not much has needed to. Tasting through the entire range of Boxler’s wines is ample proof of the fact that Alsace, along with Burgundy, is the source of the world’s most complex, exciting white wines, and will probably always be.

Organic.

Winemaker
Jean Boxler

Grape / Blend
Riesling

Origin
Alsace, France

Tasting Notes
The brilliance of this site is its ability to produce sumptuously rich and perfumed Pinot Gris that maintains a vibrant acidity and stony backbone. It is as grand as Pinot Gris gets.

95 Points - Wine Advocate
The 2021 Grand Cru Sommerberg Pinot Gris Wiptal is fine but generous on the clear and finely spicy nose; it's rich yet complex. On the palate, this is a full-bodied, rich, intense and very persistent Pinot Gris that was bottled with six grams per liter of residual sugar and 14% stated alcohol. Tasted in April 2024.

94 Points - Vinous
The 2021 Pinot Gris Wibtal Sommerberg Grand Cru is from one of the estate's youngest parcels planted in 2000, in the upper part of the granitic Sommerberg at 400-410m of altitude. The intention was to be able to produce a dry Pinot Gris with real acidity, hence the altitude - the downside is that yields are very low. There is just a whisper of smoky reduction and very shy notions of ripe pear. The palate is of pear pervaded by gorgeous lemon accents, zesty and bright, yet generous and juicy. It is the zesty lemon, the concentration and vivid linearity that puts this into a super-league of Pinot Gris. Lean but generous and so long. (Dry)

Product size: 750ml