This year, Saveurs is a blend of 2 vintages (2020 and 2021). These 2 vintages were at the opposite of each other, one was hot, ripe and rich, the other was cooler and focused. Blending the 2 together brought the kind of balance and vibrancy Christian Binner loves.
The grapes are mainly Pinot Blanc, Riesling and Auxerrois with a little Sylvaner, Chasselas and Muscat. The wine was aged on its fine lees, in large oak vats.
Aromatic and focused, it shows floral and fruity scents on the nose - the palate while richly textured, shows a clear definition - plenty of peach, pear grapefruit and green apple.
In the words of Christian: ' Ceci est un vin RARE: Rien Ajouté Rien Enlevé. 100% raisins, sans filtration, sans soufre ni aucun intrant ajouté.'
which translates as 'This is a RARE wine: Nothing added, Nothing taken out, 100% grapes, no filtration, no fining, no added sulfites nor any other additives.'
DOMAINE CHRISTIAN BINNER, Ammerschwihr
Biodynamic, Natural
The Binner family has owned vines in Alsace since 1770 and today they practice organic and biodynamic agriculture, neither fine nor filter the wine, use only natural yeasts, use minimal sulphur, etc... All the wines are aged in 100 year old big foudres and undergo malolactic fermentation.
The average vine age is 35-years-old, with 40% over 60 years old, and plenty that have entered their second century of productivity. Christian Binner has an excellent slice of land in and around the Kaefferkopf Grand Cru, close to his home village of Ammerschwihr on a terroir of colluvial granitic top soil over a marly bedrock.
The Binners own nine hectares in total, with only six planted to vine and estate, as mentioned, has been chemical-free for over two decades. They harvest in October, later on average than any of their neighbours, with patience that allows for fully ripe fruit and resulting complexity of flavour in the bottled wines. They also strive to vinify as naturally as possible with a minimum of sulphur addition, preferable not even at bottling. To manage, one has to make a wine that is as biochemically stable as possible. This is accomplished by fermenting as much as sugar as possible, allowing malolactic transformation and storing and bottling the wine under reductive conditions keeping some carbon dioxide in the wine at all stages.