Our family is established in Mittelbergheim since the 17th century, and has been practicing professions linked to art since that time. the vineyard, the cooperage to; viticulture. At the beginning of the 1970s, Pierre and Doris Rietsch created the estate that bears their name by transforming their operation then oriented towards mixed farming into a purely wine business. The domain is today managed by Jean-Pierre Rietsch and his wife Sophie, assisted by Pierre-Etienne Grieshaber.

The estate works in partnership with La Main Verte, an adapted company whose teams participate in manual work in the vines, from pruning to trellising. Although withdrawn In charge of operations, Pierre Rietsch remains present throughout the year and continues to contribute to the various tasks. It is in this family spirit that we welcome our visitors, when they come for a tasting and a discovery of our cellar, in which the tuns which have been in place for three generations are still in use . The vineyard.

In 2008, we made the choice of environmentally friendly viticulture by converting our estate to one of the best wineries in the world. organic farming. Grassing, surface tillage and sowing of green manure are the centerpieces of our farming management. They allow you to the flora and native fauna to create a balanced environment and to promote the expression of the terroir. Our wines are made at the same time. made from grapes grown without chemicals. During the harvest, entirely manual, the grapes are sorted on the plot then pressed whole in order to avoid the effects of crushing.

All our work on grapes and juices is carried out directly. gently: the juices are extracted from the bunches in a pneumatic press at a high speed. low pressure, over a fairly long period, from 5 to 5 12 hours, so that the press is already working. like a filter, which will limit the extraction of mud. This set of precautions aims to do not strip the juices of their substance. The musts are then aged in slow and natural fermentation, over a period of 5 to 10 days. 24 months depending on the case, depending on the case; from their native yeasts which feed on the material preserved in the juices. No addition of sugar, no correction of acidity, no fining: our interventions during aging are limited to the strict minimum, in order not to disturb the character of the wine and to allow it to to best express its characteristics, grape variety and terroir. At the end of the fermentation process, certain wines are stabilized by filtration and the addition, if necessary, of very low doses of sulfur in order to treat possible bacterial problems.

Over the last ten years, our approach has become increasingly involved in the production of natural wines. Behind this name, which is not yet regulated by any legislation, our practice is simple: it assumes upstream an approach that is as respectful as possible of the vines and the land, which are worked without pesticides, without waste. synthetic sherbants, fertilizers, insecticides and antifungals, and wine breeding without the use of any inputs. This approach first requires trusting the world. its raw material. It requires, at agrave; all stages of wine aging, great attention to the winemaking process. The outfit The air is tested before bottling to ensure that the wine can resist over time. Less tense than sulphitated wines, these natural wines are fluid, balanced, relaxed. Their perception in the mouth is particularly sensual and fleshy. Some tasters talk about their particular « drinkability » : these are gourmet wines, of great purity. of taste on the palate, to which we want to return.

We are also experimenting with new winemaking processes, mainly in two directions: the production of maceration wines ('orange' wines) and the production of a perpetual vintage. For certain vintages, we allow the grapes to macerate in the juice in order to extract the coloring matter and tannins. This process brings structure to aromatic wines, such as Muscats, Pinot Gris or Gewurztraminers which sometimes lack acidity. and which are traditionally vinified into semi-dry or sweet wines. Maceration helps stabilize the wines naturally and modifies their aromatic and taste register, renewing the perception that we can have of these grape varieties. We also develop a perpetual cuvée, by blending old vintages with juices from the last harvest, with the aim of combining the liveliness of the wine. and the freshness of the wine of the year with aging juices with an already unique taste. posed and more complex.