Leon Beyer Riesling Les Ecaillers Grand Cru 2015
$135.00
Volume: 750ml
The Riesling Les Ecaillers is one of the truly classically dry Riesling wines of Alsace (and that isn’t always the case). The wine is always made with grapes from the Pfersigberg grand cru: it is characterized by noteworthy freshness and balanced acidity, and expresses its terroir’s minerality very precisely and cleanly. It’s also a very food-friendly wine, and it probably could not be otherwise given that the words that make up its name, les écaillers, translates in English to (oyster) “shuckers”. In fact, the Les Ecaillers wine has an interesting history in how it came to be: it was born when a food club asked the father of Marc Beyer to judge at an écailleurs contest (again, they are those who shuck oysters) that once over, was celebrated with a huge oyster eat-a-thon. This led Beyer to create a brand new Riesling wine just for the occasion, that was baptized “Les Ecaillers” as such by restaurant owners and patrons. – Terroir Sense Wine Review
Winemaking
The grapes are hand-harvested and pressed, then ferment with indigenous yeasts in large oak barrels. Racking takes place prior to winter and the wine is bottled in the spring, then cellared for years, as mentioned previously. The wine is only made in the better vintages and only about 4,500 bottles/year are made on average.