Cuvée: Pas a Pas

Style: Still

Colour: White

Grapes/Blend: Savagnin Rose

ABV: 13.3%

Vintage: NV (2021 bottling)

Winemaking: One Jean Pierre only releases every two years. A perpetual cuvée of Savagnin Rose grown over clay-limestone in the Klevener de Heiligenstein. Sourced from a vat he tops up with new juice as he bottles every other year, this edition comprises the 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021 vintages.

But a wine like this has a long history:

The story is that his 2011 fermentation of the Savagnin Rose - which was in barrel for two years- stalled to a halt with 15g residual sugars so he decided to top it up in 2013 to restart it, and moved it to a vat with a floating lid. He had a really good vintage in 2015 so did a 10-14 day maceration of whole-bunch Savagnin Rose and once it had finished, added that in too.

Pas a Pas was first bottled in 2017 - a portion of the tank - and then JP decided he'd only release it every couple of years, following the same process, bottling less than half the vat and topping it up with young juice of that year. At some point along the way he moved it from the vat to a large foudre - Most subsequent vintages were pressed directly.

Jean Pierre loves the gentle oxidation, and that it brings both the "richness of character of an older vintage and the youthful vivacity brought by the young wines."

Raised in a 25hl tank, Jean-Pierre bottles 12hl and replaces with 12hl of the new vintage. In other years, the Savagin Rose goes to Les Mains Libres.

Sulphur: 4mg/l total

Soil: Clay-limestone, grés