2009 goes down in the annals of great vintages – a year in which wines were especially concentrated and which displayed the huge potential which we have in Alsace for Pinot Noir - several of the wines from which it is produced were truly exceptional.

•    The winter was cold with little snow
•    Spring was mild
•    Shoots began to appear on the vine at the end of April and, by May 20th, there were six or seven leaves on each plant. The vines were in flower between June 1st and 12th during which month we had good weather with some light showers
•    July was hot and humid seeing 57mm of rain fall. The start of August too was hot with some rain at the start of the month followed by a warm, dry period until harvesting began
•    Grape-picking for the Crémants commenced at the end of August. This was a wonderful harvest without one rotten grape prompting an experienced harvester to remark to the young Arnaud Baur: “This is your first vintage but don’t ever forget it, you will never see its’ like again!”. The alcohol levels from this vintage were high but in certain vineyards, the Riesling grapes, though slightly deprived of water, retained the correct level of acidity despite the sunny weather. The fermentation process was difficult especially for the Riesling grapes
•    The vendanges tardives wines were rich and complex but lacking in “noble rot”