Riesling Rorschwihr Selection de Grains Nobles
⏳ Drinking Window
2026 - 2055
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Blue cheese, foie gras, fruit tarts
✨ Technical Specifications
Hailing from the historic village of Rorschwihr, where viticulture has flourished since the Roman era and was highly prized by medieval royalty, this Sélection de Grains Nobles represents the pinnacle of Alsace's sweet winemaking. Domaine Rolly Gassmann leverages the village's complex mosaic of clay-limestone soils to craft a Riesling of extraordinary depth. This rare cuvée is only produced in exceptional vintages when the autumn mists encourage the development of Botrytis cinerea (noble rot). The grapes are meticulously harvested by hand, berry by individual berry, in successive passes through the vineyards. In the cellar, a slow, natural fermentation is followed by years of patient aging, resulting in a wine that masterfully balances rich, honeyed concentration with the piercing, vibrant acidity characteristic of the Riesling grape.
🍾 About the Producer
Domaine Rolly Gassmann emerged in 1967 through the marriage of Marie-Thérèse Rolly and Louis Gassmann, unifying two families with winemaking lineages in Alsace dating to 1676 and 1611 respectively. Situated in Rorschwihr along the complex Ribeauvillé fault line, the estate commands over 50 hectares characterized by a mosaic of 21 distinct limestone-dominant subsoil profiles. Opting out of the Alsace Grand Cru hierarchy in favor of expressing traditional historic lieux-dits, current winemaker Pierre Gassmann operates strictly within biodynamic rhythms. The viticultural approach champions late physiological and phenological harvesting, intentionally courting noble rot across micro-parcels. In the cellar, natural fermentations proceed unhurried for four to six months. Celebrated for an obsessive dedication to bottle maturation, Rolly Gassmann stores millions of bottles in a state-of-the-art multi-level cellar before commercial release. The benchmark portfolio spans opulent, long-lived expressions from lieux-dits such as Silberberg, Kappelweg, and Pflaenzerreben, alongside lusciously concentrated Vendanges Tardives and Sélection de Grains Nobles.
🍇 Grapes
Riesling