Riesling Vendanges Tardives
⏳ Drinking Window
2015 - 2035
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
foie gras, roasted duck, blue cheese
✨ Technical Specifications
Domaine Rolly Gassmann's Riesling Vendanges Tardives is a masterclass in patience, terroir, and the slow magic of botrytis. Hailing from the clay-limestone and marly soils of Rorschwihr—a village with a winemaking heritage dating back to the Roman era—this late-harvest jewel benefits from a unique microclimate protected by the Vosges Mountains. The grapes are left on the vine to overripen, often kissed by noble rot, concentrating their sugars, acids, and mineral character. In accordance with the family's legendary philosophy, these wines are aged for years in their labyrinthine cellars before they are deemed ready for the public. The result is a golden, incredibly complex nectar where vibrant petrol and citrus notes interweave with honeyed stone fruits, backed by a spine of electric acidity that keeps the wine remarkably fresh and balanced.
🍾 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