Why it matters
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 and vineyards
Where the wines begin
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.
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.
In the cellar
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 to know
The range in view
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.