GEWURZTRAMINER Grand Cru HENGST - Vendange Tardive 2001

The winter 2000 - 2001 was fresh but not cold. We scared an early bursting because temperaturesat the beginning of February were never under 0° C. The beginning of spring was damp and dull, but endedon better climatic conditions. The flowering began in the week of the 4 June. A warm and estival weathersettled from the 21 June. The flower was finished and the harvest's view seemed goods.The harvest began the 1 October and kept going under a real " indian summer ", without any rain. At the 19October, a big part of the harvest was made. The harvest was made at the maturity of the grapes but withouta research of over - maturity because of the will to preserve the acidity. Wines are caracterised by a goodconcentration and by an aromatic purity of the fruit, wines are firm and rich.

The soil of the 360 meter high slope which dominates this vineyard is essentially a mixture oflimestone from the Vosges, chalky marl (14% active) and layers of red, brown, green and beige sedimenthundreds of meters thick. The mother rock is of an orange - yellow hue. Dating as far back as the Jurassicperiod the elements vary in density from very fine to very course. The Ph factor is within 7.8 to 8.3. ThisGrand Cru is 130.95 acres (53,02 Ha) of vines. The combined calcareous and marl soils tend to produce richfull bodied wines. In their youth they have an untamed character, reminiscent of the vineyard's name -"stallion". They slowly mature to astonishing aromatics and fabulous richness.

The grapes were hand picked and whole-bunch pressed very slowly and gently in pneumaticpresses over 5-8 hours to give a clean must and a beneficial amount of skin contact. Transferred to thermoregulatedstainless steel tanks the juice then began a natural fermentation using only its own natural yeastwhich lasted for one month. The fermentation was initially temperature controlled but was eventuallyallowed to proceed at its own pace to allow the wine to develop its own character and complexity. The winestabilized in stainless steel tanks naturally during the winter season and, following a very gentle filtering,was bottled in March 2007 before the heat of summer to preserve the natural carbonic gas (a natural antioxidant).Malolactic fermentation is always avoided at Josmeyer and no chaptalization takes place.