LAMBERT SPIELMANN
Red Z’Epfig 2022
Alsace, France
A blend of equal parts Pinot Noir and Gris from thirty year old vines planted over clay and limestone in Epfig. The two varieties were fermented together as whole bunches for a fortnight and pressed off to demi-muids for eight months of élevage. Bright, cherry-red in the glass, it is perfumed with berries, earth and minerals, whilst the palate is all neat tannin and chalky minerals. A wine with a wonderful sense of place.
Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris
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.