Domaine Pfister

The story

The Eighth Cuvée

In 2005, Mélanie made the first Cuvée 8, now called Mel, a blended wine she had long envisioned. A cuvée is a separately named wine, while a blend combines more than one component before bottling. She chose the number because she is the eighth generation of the Pfister family to make wine at the domaine. Mélanie officially took over from her father with the 2006 vintage. The first Cuvée 8 dates to the year before that formal handover.

From the atlas

Domaine Pfister

A Dahlenheim domaine in Alsace where Mélanie Pfister makes aromatic, well balanced, rather dry wines from Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer and Riesling.

At A Glance

The Producer

Dahlenheim is home to a family domaine now led by Mélanie Pfister, the eighth generation of the Pfister family to make wine there. Her father André began at the domaine in 1966 at age 15 and continues working the vineyards.

Mélanie is an oenologist with diplomas from the wine universities in Bordeaux and Dijon. She has also worked in Germany and New Zealand. The wines follow an aromatic, well balanced, rather dry style.

Place

Dahlenheim is the Alsace village where the domaine is based. Its bottles carry both grape names, including Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer, and a named Grand Cru, Engelberg.

Grand Cru is a vineyard classification, so Grand Cru Engelberg places the wine within a named vineyard hierarchy. The range therefore moves from bottles identified by grape variety to a Riesling whose label names a classified site.

Soil And Site

Furd Pinot Gris comes from a steep hillside with rich, deep soil. The wine carries concentration and elegance without overt sweetness, linking the physical site to a dense but composed Pinot Gris style.

Story

In the early 1980s, André Pfister quit using herbicides and adopted no till farming. No till leaves the soil undisturbed between the vines, reducing the need to turn the ground as part of routine vineyard work.

At the beginning of 2018, Mélanie and her father decided to go entirely organic. The domaine began using biodynamic preparations in 2019 and received organic certification in 2021. The vineyard work now combines no till farming, organic certification and biodynamic preparations.

Vineyards And Cellar

Mélanie and her father farm 10 hectares divided into 43 parcels. Approximately 25% of the vineyard is planted to Riesling.

Most wines are made and aged in steel tanks. The base range spends nearly a year ageing on lees before bottling, while the upper range ages 18 to 24 months. Lees are the spent yeast cells left after fermentation, and keeping wine on them can add texture and savoury depth without oak flavour.

Mélanie occasionally uses 700 liter sandstone amphora, particularly for orange wines. Indigenous yeast is preferred, while non aromatic cultured yeasts are reserved for more problematic vintages.

Wines

The domaine produces approximately 15 different wines annually, with overall production of roughly 5,000 cases.

Pinot Gris appears in several distinct bottles. Macération Pinot Gris macerates with the skins for around 15 days, ferments in steel and is raised in neutral oak. Silb Pinot Gris is fermented and aged in older 228 liter and 300 liter barrels, racked to steel after 15 months, then aged for another 3 to 9 months before bottling. Furd Pinot Gris comes from a steep hillside with rich, deep soil.

Macération Gewurztraminer uses minimal sulphur dioxide, macerates for around 10 days, then undergoes élevage in amphora, neutral barrels and steel. Riesling 2006 Grand Cru Engelberg brings the range to a named Grand Cru bottling.

In The Glass

The house style is aromatic, well balanced and rather dry. Riesling 2006 Grand Cru Engelberg is very dry and fresh, with citrus aromas and minerality.

Silb Pinot Gris is an atypical, mineral rendition of Pinot Gris with exceptionally juicy acidity. Furd Pinot Gris carries concentration and elegance without overt sweetness. The wines keep aromatic grape varieties connected to dryness, freshness and mineral detail.

A Bottle To Understand It

Choose Mélanie Pfister Macération Pinot Gris 2020. It is Pinot Gris made with skin contact, fermented in steel and raised in neutral oak.

Skin contact keeps the grape juice with its skins during fermentation, extracting more colour and phenolic grip than a white wine made without maceration. Steel provides a neutral vessel, while neutral oak allows gentle oxygen exchange without adding a strong oak flavour. This bottle puts the domaine's grape and cellar choices together in one clear sequence.

Anecdote

In 2005, Mélanie made the first Cuvée 8, now called Mel, a blended wine she had long envisioned. She chose the number because she is the eighth generation of the Pfister family to make wine at the domaine. Mélanie officially took over from her father with the 2006 vintage. The first Cuvée 8 dates to the year before that formal handover.

Final Word

Domaine Pfister makes Alsace wines in an aromatic, well balanced, rather dry style, with Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer and Riesling taking distinct paths through skin contact, steel, older barrels, sandstone amphora and Grand Cru Engelberg.

Sources

• https://www.melaniepfister.fr/
• https://vintage59.com/our-portfolio-2/pfister_alsace/
• https://www.routedesvins.alsace/255003023-domaine-melanie-pfister/
• https://www.bkwine.com/features/wine-producer-profiles/domaine-pfister/