Francois Baur Schlittweg Pinot Noir 2022

When we visited the Alsace region in northern France in the Fall of 2014, we visited one of our long-time favorite domaines : Francois Baur. Having bought, sold and consumed this family's beautiful organic wines for over 10 years, we were thrilled to taste a wine that had never been exported to the USA before. It was this Schlittweg Pinot Noir and we loved it! We immediately arranged to have the wine exported to America. The Schlittweg vineyard is located near the Herrenweg vineyard which the Baur family farms with 100% biodynamic methods, as they do in all of their vineyards. Schlittweg's soils are composed of small stones and sand, so this wine differs in flavor from the family's Sang du Dragon Pinot, which has a more distinctively granite character, and is also aged in oak. Although Alsace is known for serious white wines, there are some producers making delicious unoaked Pinot Noir, and this is a terrific example.      

The Baur family has lived in Turckheim since 1741 and today it is the 9th generation of Baur family members to produce wine in the great region of Alsace. Pierre Baur is the son of Francois Baur, and the Domaine Baur comprises 27 acres of vines. Half of these are within the famous Grand Cru vineyard of Brand, making the Baur family one of the largest landowners in Brand (which has other serious growers such as Boxler, Josmeyer and Zind-Humbrecht as neighbors). Baur also owns vines along the plateau Herrenweg, whose heavier soils provide the wines with exceptional richness.

Today Thomas Baur, son of Pierre, takes care of the vineyards and winemaking; since 2001 the family has been fully biodynamic in the vineyards--a totally natural approach to the cultivation of vines that makes every attempt to respect the plants, the soil and the environment. Work is scheduled according to the phases of the moon, often at night while the vines are resting and not fatigued by the sun. Studying in the same biodynamics class as Jean-Michel Deiss, one notes the fervor with which Baur now addresses his work; it has become a religion to him and he trusts nature in his vineyards. Harvest is done manually, vinification takes place with natural yeasts in large foudres.