Marc Tempe, Gewurtztraminer Mambourg Grand Cru, 2020

£73.90

Biodynamically farmed Gewurztraminer from the south-facing Mambourg Grand Cru, fermented with native yeasts and aged 24 months on lees; 13% ABV with 26.3 g/L residual sugar balanced by vibrant acidity.

lychee
rose
candied citrus
ginger

At a glance

Producer: Domaine Marc Tempé
Region: Alsace
Appellation: Alsace Grand Cru Mambourg
Grape: Gewurztraminer
Vintage: 2020
Country: France
Wine type: White
Alcohol: 13.0%
Size: 75.0cl
Farming: Biodynamic — practising

Taste profile

Body: Medium-full
Acidity: High
Tannin: Low
Sweetness: Off-dry

What to eat with it

Munster cheese
Thai green curry
roast pork belly
duck à l’orange
spicy Sichuan chicken

How to serve it

Serve: Lightly chilled (12–14°C)

Why Cave selected it

Expressive, old-vine Gewurztraminer from a benchmark biodynamic producer on limestone-rich Mambourg; combines intensity with freshness and length.

About the wine

Mambourg Grand Cru is an early ripening, south-facing hillside with a limestone derived topsoil in which iron oxide gives great complexity. Marc’s vines were planted between 1930 and 1977. The wine is as intensely floral as it is mineral, and full of zesty passion fruit that is balanced by an electric vein of acidity – something that this variety all too often lacks .

About Domaine Marc Tempé

Back in the eighties Marc initially worked as a lab technician for the INAO. He then stepped outdoors to work as a vineyard expert for the same body, responsible for selecting lieux-dits for possible inclusion into Alsace’s Grand Cru system. Both Marc and wife Anne Marie’s parents were co-operative winemakers and from the families’ joint vineyard holdings they started their new domaine in 1993. Marc, who Léonard Humbrecht (of Zind-Humbrecht) calls his ‘spiritual godson’, has been working his 8ha of hillside vineyards in the Haut-Rhin biodynamically since late 1996. Most of his wines are made from very old vines and, harnessed to fastidious viticulture. There are an incredible density and depth of fruit in Marc's wines, there is something hedonistic about them and yet they are beautifully balanced with good acidities, a terroir print and notable bitters on the finish. All of the wines age effortlessly.

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