Riesling Rorschwihr Yves Vendanges Tardives
⏳ Drinking Window
2015 - 2035
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Foie gras, blue cheese, lemon tart
✨ Technical Specifications
Rolly Gassmann's Riesling Rorschwihr Yves Vendanges Tardives is a masterclass in patient, late-harvest winemaking from the historic village of Rorschwihr. The Yves cuvée represents a meticulous selection of Riesling grapes left on the vine to achieve overripeness, often touched by the benevolent hand of botrytis. Grown on Rorschwihr's complex mosaic of marly-limestone soils, which date back to the Middle Ages when local monasteries highly prized these specific parcels, the grapes benefit from a unique microclimate that preserves vibrant acidity while developing immense sugar concentration. In accordance with the estate's signature philosophy, this Vendanges Tardives is fermented slowly and aged for years in the estate's massive cellars before release, allowing the intense sweetness, petrol complexity, and searing mineral backbone to harmonize into a legendary, texturally rich masterpiece.
🍾 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