LAMBERT SPIELMANN
Chien Noir Chat Blanc 2021
Alsace, France
A new one for Lambert, this highly original rosé-of-sorts comes from a direct press of Auxerrois from forty year old vines planted over a clay, in which the skins of Pinot Noir are infused for a week before pressing off to vat for a a short rest. Brilliant, cranberry-red in the glass, there is a pleasant density and refreshing tartness to the fruit here, offering energy and refreshment in spades.
Pinot Noir, Auxerrois
ABOUT THE PRODUCER
Unlike many in Alsace, Lambert Spielmann wasn’t born into a family of vignerons and has very much done things the hard way.
After spending much of his twenties travelling, playing in bands and looking after others in the social sector, he fell in love with wine in the Loire, before returning to the region he calls home. Today, Lambert farms almost three hectares of vines spread across small parcels and various terroirs in Dambach-la-Ville, Epfig, Northalten, Obernai and Reichsfeld.
Lambert favours remote parcels surrounded by nature and his are amongst the most vibrant we’ve visited in the region. He tends them by hand, following the biodynamic calendar and principles but applying them as he sees fit. Recently Lambert has begun planting more trees amongst the vines, to offer shade, diversity and fruit from which he hopes to make cider.
Lambert makes his wines in a makeshift cellar underneath his home and from these humble surroundings he displays a unique touch. Pressing is done softly and slowly with an old vertical press and grapes are macerated gently, to create infusions. Movement is by gravity and the wines are bottled unfiltered with no additions.
Lambert’s wines are strikingly pure, textured and perfumed and even in a region as storied as Alsace, they stand out as being thrillingly unique.