Description

The Sylvaner Indigène is an Alsace wine from the Bohn estate, made from 70-year-old vines. This orange wine is vinified using the traditional indigenous method. Pressed after a four-week maceration of whole berries and grapes, then aged on lees and bottled unfiltered.

Bernard and Arthur Bohn tend their unique schist and volcanic sandstone terroirs using organic methods. They manage the soil with great care. The diversity and preservation of local flora and fauna is fundamental to the estate’s vineyard. Native vegetation covers the ground; the grass is not mown but rolled into a green carpet. Here, chemicals are avoided through the practice of ecological and environmentally friendly viticulture. As independent winegrowers, they follow their own path. The estate has decided to formalise its approach and is currently completing its conversion to organic farming.

All vintages are harvested by hand. Yields are deliberately kept low. Bernard is also the estate’s oenologist. Demanding when it comes to quality, he explains that the wine must reflect, without artifice, the terroir and climate from which it originates. He advocates minimalist vinification without the use of oenological products. For the majority of the cuvées, vinification concludes with a long ageing period in old Alsatian casks. Or in barrels to achieve the balance and length of great gastronomic wines. Mineral, fresh, light, persistent and very easy to drink.

What to eat with a Bohn Alsace Sylvaner Indigène?

• Veal shank with honey and melt-in-the-mouth carrots
• Tapas
• Anchoïade
• Offal
• Gizzards in sauce
• Cheeses.