2022 Francois Baur Pinot Gris Herrenweg de Turckheim Alsace

The Baur family has been making wine in Turckheim since 1741. Nine generations, one town, twelve and a half hectares.

Pierre and Thomas Baur run it now, and they went further than most. Certified organic by Ecocert in 1998. Certified biodynamic by Biodyvin in 2001. That is a quarter-century of doing it the hard way, on paper, with an auditor.

Herrenweg is a lieu-dit, not a Grand Cru. Turckheim's Grand Cru is Brand, and Baur bottles that separately.

What Herrenweg has is an old Roman road running through it and the alluvial fan of the Fecht underneath it. Gravel and fine silt. Fast drainage, fast warming.

It sits in the Colmar rain shadow, one of the driest pockets in France. Winds off the Munster Valley push the clouds away. Grapes here ripen early and ripen fully.

This is not a dry wine. Alsace Pinot Gris rarely is, and the domaine files it at demi-sec on their own scale. There is real sugar in it, held up by acidity.

If you want a lean aperitif white, keep walking. If you want something to put next to a spiced dish or a cheese board, this is the bottle.