Pinot Gris Rangen “Clos Saint Urbain” Grand Cru 2022

The Clos-Saint-Urbain (named after the little chapel in the middle of the vineyard) is the only part of the Rangen which is directly above the River Thur. The vertiginous slope is facing south and directly exposed to the valley winds. The valley of the Thur river is deep, narrow, and quite cold being at a higher altitude. The Rangen is close to some of the highest mountains in Alsace. It is a late ripening vineyard that bud-breaks later (2 to sometimes 3 weeks later than Turckheim), flowers later but eventually catches up through the ripening season. The Pinot-Gris Rangen is often the most powerful Pinot-Gris harvested and not that much later than all the other Pinot-Gris on the estate. The Volcanic sedimentary soil is responsible for the incredible original taste of the Rangen wines. The topsoil is covered by rocks, but when doing geologic soil profiles, it was apparent that some roots would plunge deep into the rocks, searching for nutrients and water. Pinot-Gris is not an aromatic grape, it will acquire strong terroir influence but only if the soil has a distinctive originality. Like previous vintages, the grapes in 2022 were ripe and healthy, allowing for the production of a very dry wine.