Domaine Schaeffer-Woerly - Maxime Woerly
France, Alsace, Dambach-la-Ville
We’ve just received an exciting bundle of wines from Maxime Woerly in Dambach-la-Ville, Alsace. Among them is a top up of three favourites and two new releases, the first up from his 2021 vintage.
The Pinot Noir 2021 is a straight, juicy, zero-sulphur number from 60 year old vines on a steep southern-facing slope on granite. Half of the blend is a 7 day maceration of de-stemmed fruit, the other half a direct-pressed blanc de noir. A little (about 15%) of the 2020 held in reserve was blended in also, before ageing in large traditional Alsace barrels for 8 months, and bottled with no additions in May.
Another brand new release from Maxime: Infusion 2021 is as it says on the tin: an infusion of de-stemmed Muscat, Pinot Gris and Gewürztraminer, suspended in a tank of direct-pressed Auxerrois juice. The famous ‘tea bag’ method continues to catch on!
"I really enjoyed working with this method. I’d had these bags for a really long time, and hadn’t been sure what to do with them, but heard of a grower using them to suspend grapes in juice, and decided to give it a go. So it was four 25 kilo bags of each: Muscat, Pinot Gris, Gewurz, de-stemmed, hanging from the top of the tank in the Auxerrois juice.
The Muscat and Pinot Gris I pulled out after 15 days, the Gewurz bags I kept in there for 6 months. It’s brilliant because you get much more control over the extraction, much more detail. Also the bags you simply sterilise them with hot water, and can re-use them! I’ll probably be trying it with my more traditional Riesling maceration too next year. It’s proved to be very effective!"
2021 was an incredibly tricky, stressful vintage for Maxime, a much cooler year and late threats of powdery mildew led to some sleepless nights, but Maxime is incredibly proud of the results, a year that was certainly worth the stress.
Maxime will be joining us in London on July 10th for Bedrock By The River!
Now Available
Domaine Schaeffer-Woerly - Maxime Woerly
France, Alsace, Dambach-la-Ville
SPARKLING
2017 - Cremant - Auxerrois, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc
2017 - Cremant Magnum - Auxerrois, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc
WHITE
2017 - Riesling Bernstein - Riesling
SKINS
NEW 2021 - Infusion - Muscat, Pinot Gris, Auxerrois, Gewurztraminer
ROSE
2020 - Le Vin en Rose - Muscat, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Noir
REDS
NEW 2021 - Pinot Noir - Pinot Noir