From: Alsace, France

Varietal: 100% Riesling

Tasting Notes: This pale yellow Riesling opens slowly to reveal layers of lilac and orange peel, framed by wet stone and mineral character that adds dimension. On the palate, freshness and elegance dominate this bone-dry wine.

Jean Sparr, who founded the Sparr winery in 1680, was born in the Alsace village of Sigolsheim. Over the next 300 years, nine successive generations of the Sparr family worked the land, maintaining and expanding their estate. When Pierre Sparr took over the winery in the early 1900s at the age of 20, his innate business sense made him one of the pioneers in estate bottling in Alsace. His motto was “invest, progress and maintain” — a motto that continues to describe the domaine that is named in his honor, “Maison Pierre Sparr Successeurs.”

Pierre Sparr lived through World War II in Alsace and witnessed the destruction of his village of Sigolsheim and its surrounding vineyards. With undaunted determination, he rebuilt the family’s domaine, which had always been one of the region’s most beautiful. His sons, René and Charles, enlarged and replanted the estate’s vineyards and expanded trade with European markets and abroad. Today Maison Pierre Sparr owns 15 hectares (37 acres) of vineyards in the heart of Alsace; and it sources fruit from another 150 hectares (370 acres) of vineyards owned by growers who share their philosophy and with whom they have long-term contracts.

There are seven major grape varieties produced in Alsace: Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc, Muscat, and Sylvaner. Maison Pierre Sparr has planted vineyards with each of the major varieties, plus Pinot Auxerrois, which is blended with Pinot Blanc in their Crémant d’Alsace Brut Réserve.