At A Glance
- Field
- Detail
- Region
- Alsace
- Home village
- Husseren-les-Châteaux
- Current cellar
- Ammerschwihr
- Named lines
- Trois Châteaux and La 4ème Tour
- Documented bottles
- La 4ème Tour Riesling 2024 and La 4ème Tour Gewürztraminer 2021
- Defining methods
- Biodynamic viticulture, spontaneous fermentation and lees ageing
The Producer
Family winemaking in Husseren-les-Châteaux is recorded in archives from 1795. Kuentz-Bas is an Alsace domaine whose named La 4ème Tour wines include Riesling 2024 and Gewürztraminer 2021.
La 4ème Tour wines use spontaneous fermentation and mature on lees for 10 to 12 months. Other selections are vinified either in hundred-year-old oak casks, where the wood allows subtle micro-oxidation, or in stainless steel, which preserves fruit aromas.
Place
The Trois Châteaux vines sit around Husseren-les-Châteaux at 400 meters. La 4ème Tour parcels border Grand Cru vineyards and contain loess rich in fine yellow silts, sand and limestone.
The current cellar is in Ammerschwihr, next to the separate Domaine Jean-Baptiste Adam vault. Kuentz-Bas therefore works between vineyard sites around Husseren-les-Châteaux and a cellar in Ammerschwihr.
Soil And Site
Trois Châteaux combines clay-limestone and sandstone soils at elevated vineyard sites. Clay-limestone can hold water in the root zone, while sandstone provides a different balance of sand and mineral material.
The La 4ème Tour parcels contain loess, fine silts, sand and porous limestone. Porous limestone allows water to pass through the ground, while the fine silts and sand shape the soil texture around the vines.
Story
In 2004, Kuentz-Bas and Domaine Jean-Baptiste Adam began adopting biodynamic viticulture methods. The agreement changed vineyard farming at both estates.
Biodynamic viticulture is a farming system built around specific preparations and close attention to the life of the soil. At Kuentz-Bas, that farming change sits alongside named vineyard lines and cellar work that includes spontaneous fermentation and lees ageing.
Vineyards And Cellar
Depending on the selection, Kuentz-Bas vinifies wines in hundred-year-old oak casks or in stainless steel. The oak allows subtle micro-oxidation, while stainless steel preserves fruit aromas.
La 4ème Tour wines ferment spontaneously and mature on lees for 10 to 12 months. Lees are spent yeast cells, and contact with them can add texture and savoury notes as the wine matures.
Wines
The named lines include Trois Châteaux and La 4ème Tour. The latter is represented by La 4ème Tour Riesling 2024 and La 4ème Tour Gewürztraminer 2021, giving the line two documented grape expressions.
La 4ème Tour Riesling has an ageing window of 4 to 5 years, during which its mineral characteristics can evolve. The range also includes Riesling wines described through citrus, orchard fruit, mineral notes and dry finishes.
In The Glass
La 4ème Tour Riesling opens with white stone fruit, citrus and a fine mineral touch. The 2024 Kuentz-Bas Riesling is pale lemon, with lime zest, green apple, white flowers and wet-stone minerality on the nose. Its palate is dry and racy, layered with citrus and orchard fruit, and lifted by crisp acidity before a clean, mineral, refreshing finish.
MosaïK Riesling shows lemon and lime, golden delicious apple and hints of bitter almond. Its finish is very dry and almost austere, with a pithy texture that adds savoury notes.
A Bottle To Understand It
Choose La 4ème Tour Riesling 2024. It places one grape, one named vineyard line and one cellar method in the same bottle. The wine is made with spontaneous fermentation and lees ageing, while the companion La 4ème Tour Gewürztraminer 2021 gives the line a different grape expression.
Anecdote
In 1895, a wedding between the Kuentz family and the Bas family united the estates. The cellar built in 1894 remains in use, linking the family merger to a working building from the same period. The producer is named Kuentz-Bas today, carrying both family names into the current domaine.
Final Word
Kuentz-Bas joins vineyard lines around Husseren-les-Châteaux with a current cellar in Ammerschwihr. La 4ème Tour brings Riesling and Gewürztraminer together under spontaneous fermentation and lees ageing.
Sources
- www.kuentz-bas.fr/en/content/9-histoire-domaine-kuentz-bas.html
- www.kuentz-bas.fr/en/content/10-les-terroirs-de-kuentz-bas.html
- www.kuentz-bas.fr/en/content/11-nos-vins.html
- www.kuentz-bas.fr/en/108-riesling-la-4eme-tour-2019.html
- primalwine.com/products/kuentz-bas-riesling-2024
- alsacewineireland.com/2022/08/15/wine-review-kuentz-bas-alsace-mosaik-riesling