The producer
Domaine Marcel Deiss is a Bergheim, Alsace domaine built around complantation, the practice of growing several grape varieties together and harvesting them as one wine. Engelgarten combines Riesling, Pinot Gris, Pinot Beurot, Muscat and Pinot Noir. Blanc Alsace brings the permitted Alsatian white grape varieties into one field blend. The domaine is certified organic and biodynamic, with terroir placed ahead of the individual grape variety.
Known for
Alsace complantation field blends
Notable facts
- The Deiss family established itself in Bergheim in 1744.
- Marcel Deiss founded the modern domaine in 1947 after returning from the Second World War.
- The vineyard covers 26 hectares.
- The domaine is certified organic by Ecocert and biodynamic by Demeter.
From the atlas
Domaine Marcel Deiss
Domaine Marcel Deiss in Bergheim, Alsace, where several grape varieties are grown together and harvested as one vineyard wine.
At A Glance
| Field | Detail |
| Region | Alsace |
| Village | Bergheim |
| Main grapes | Alsatian varieties grown together |
| Signature wine | Engelgarten |
| Defining feature | Complantation with certified organic and biodynamic farming |
The Producer
Domaine Marcel Deiss works from a clear premise: a true terroir is stronger than the grape variety planted. The domaine is certified organic by Ecocert and biodynamic by Demeter, with wines built around interplanted vineyards and site expression.
Complantation means that several grape varieties grow side by side in the same soil and are harvested together. The finished wine carries the combined crop of the plot instead of separating every variety into its own bottle.
Place
Bergheim is the home of Domaine Marcel Deiss, in Alsace. The domaine's vineyards follow a place led approach in which varieties share the same ground and reach the cellar as one harvest. A single grape variety gives one voice; several varieties grown and harvested together give the vineyard itself.
Soil And Site
Engelgarten has gravelly ground over white soil, a filtering site that frequently faces hydric stress, or water scarcity. That pressure can concentrate flavour in the grapes. Engelgarten is dry, mineral, warm and stony, with depth carried by the site.
Story
The Deiss family established itself in Bergheim in 1744 and took up grape growing shortly afterward. Marcel Deiss started the modern domaine in 1947 after returning from the Second World War. The family history and the present domaine therefore begin at different points, with the older Bergheim vineyard tradition preceding Marcel Deiss's postwar foundation.
Vineyards And Cellar
The domaine combines certified organic and biodynamic farming with cellar work that leaves the field blends intact. Engelgarten is pressed with whole clusters, fermented with ambient yeast and aged for 12 months on the lees in foudres. Whole cluster pressing keeps the stems with the grapes during pressing, while ambient yeast means fermentation begins with naturally present yeasts. Lees are spent yeast cells, and ageing on them can add texture as the wine matures in wood.
Blanc Alsace is also whole cluster pressed and fermented with ambient yeast, and it is vinified without oenological inputs.
Wines
Engelgarten is a field blend of Riesling, Pinot Gris, Pinot Beurot, Muscat and Pinot Noir. It is a dry white with mineral and stony character. Blanc Alsace sits alongside it as a broader complantation white made from Alsatian grape varieties grown together.
Schoenenbourg is the domaine's grand cru wine. A grand cru is a recognised vineyard category, and Schoenenbourg is widely considered the longest ageing wine in all of Alsace.
In The Glass
The 2023 Engelgarten is golden in hue, with the Muscat element showing through lemon pith and flint on the nose. The palate begins crunchy, then relaxes into Mirabelle, with ripe fruit and juiciness through the middle. It finishes salty, zesty and long.
A Bottle To Understand It
Open Blanc Alsace 2024 first. It brings all 13 Alsatian white grape varieties permitted in the AOC into one complantation wine, so the bottle contains the full breadth of the domaine's field blend practice. The nose is lively and fruity, with lemon, white flowers, pineapple and yellow peach. On the palate, fatness and saltiness meet freshness.
Anecdote
In 2005, Jean-Michel Deiss fought French appellation law to allow terroir focused labels without grape variety names. The INAO changed the law, against the wishes of many other prominent wine estates in Alsace. The change enabled bottles to foreground their vineyard expression instead of naming the grape variety. Jean-Michel Deiss's legal fight turned a vineyard focused labelling idea into an authorised part of Alsace wine law.
Final Word
Domaine Marcel Deiss puts terroir ahead of the individual grape variety, with field blends that carry several Alsatian varieties through one vineyard harvest and one bottle.
Sources
- https://www.marceldeiss.com/en/
- https://www.beckywasserman.com/domaines/marcel-deiss/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Deiss
- https://lyndhurstwine.com/blogs/wine-reviews/marcel-deiss-wine-review-where-terroir-speaks-loudest
- https://www.marceldeiss.com/en/our-wines/18-engelgarten.html
- https://www.marceldeiss.com/en/our-wines/12-alsace-blanc-complantation.html
- https://www.beckywasserman.com/domaines/marcel-deiss/engelgarten-cru-d-alsace/
- https://www.leaandsandeman.co.uk/wine/2023-ENGELGARTEN-Domaine-Marcel-Deiss-93305-00.html