Vintage years

Rosacker has wonderful ageing potential.

Over time, Riesling wines develop fine mineral notes,but never too «petrolly». Their palate gains in mouthfeel and harmony. Gewurztraminer wines keep their vivacity and develop potential aromatic complexity. Pinot Gris wines gain in mouthfeel without losing their initial freshness.

Location

Located on the municipality of Hunawihr, Rosacker Grand Cru forms a rectangle stretching over the north side of the village and rising up to the entrance of the closed vale at the top of the village. Located between 260 and 330 metres high, the east/south-east hillside overlooks the Alsace plain.

If the slope is gentle in the lower and middle part, the upper part is much more accentuated without ever having required terraces being built.

Soil

Created during the German Triassic geological period, Rosacker sits on a Muschelkalk and Lettenkhole parent rock. The latter is shelly sedimentary limestone dating back 235 to 245 million years ago, more or less dolmotised.

The calci-magnesic marl and sandstone soil of the Rosacker Grand Cru contains limestone and dolomite pebbles. About 1.50 metres-deep on average and with a heavy texture, its structure is nevertheless aerated by siliceous talus from Vosges sandstone. The water reserves are good (150 mm of useful water supply on average). The slope here is gentle and moderate. It does however become steeper in the upper part and at the entrance of the closed vale near the top of the village.

Microclimate

The proximity of Rosacker with the sheltering Vosges mountain range provides it with a fresher and drier climate than neighbouring vineyards. For these reasons, the Rosacker terroir is considered as late-ripening and dry. Protected by the closed Hunawihr vale, Rosacker does not suffer from the Vosges valley winds.

Grape varieties

Rosacker is not an extreme terroir. Quite the opposite with its soil depth, due-east direction, its late-ripening and dry character and little wind exposure, it gives vineyards consistent ripening conditions. Therefore all Alsace grape varieties are suited to Rosacker and this, regardless of the vintage year. However, the terroir-resistance to summer droughts and its late-ripening character are particularly perfect for Riesling which acquires great intensity while preserving its purity.

Rosacker wines are mentioned as of 1483. At this time, the Dukes of Wurtemberg administered the region and monitored the quality of good crus highly-appreciated by the dignitaries of the Holy Roman Empire. Rosacker was watched over by the three castles belonging to the Lords of Ribeaupierre ruling the area, and attracted renowned nobles and bourgeois to the wine-growing municipality.

Like many villages of the Vosges piedmont plain, Hunawihr can thank winegrowers for its very existence. It was by the donation of vineyards from Lord Hunon at the Saint-Dié monastery that its name appeared in history during the 7th century. Located between Ribeauvillé and Riquewihr, it participated over time in the Alsace wine-growing prosperity, adding the mark of its terroir and its poetic legends. One of them says that on an autumn day, as the wine-growers were returning to the village after a sad harvest in a vineyard ravaged by bad weather, Hune, the wife of Hunon, miraculously managed to have the best wine in the region burst forth from the fountain where she was washing clothes for the poor.

This benefactress was canonised after her death, whereas the municipality hillsides took turns in sharing this miraculous fountain.

All throughout the Middle Ages, the Hunawihr vineyard supplied the wine cellars for the Dominicans in Basel and Fribourg-en-Brisgau and later those of the Lords of Horbourg and their successors, the Counts of Wurtemberg.

During the 14th century, according to a local paper, as some villages were paying their fees by delivering capons, red wine or money to their lords, Hunawihr only delivered white wine. (Victor Canales - Synvira)

"