Albert Boxler Riesling Grand Cru Sommerberg Eckberg 2017

  • 96 Robert
    Parker
Sold Out - was $84.99
OFFER Take $20 off your order of $100+
Ships Fri, Apr 5
You purchased this 6/29/21
0
Limit Reached
You purchased this 6/29/21
Alert me about new vintages and availability
Albert Boxler Riesling Grand Cru Sommerberg Eckberg 2017  Front Bottle Shot
Albert Boxler Riesling Grand Cru Sommerberg Eckberg 2017  Front Bottle Shot Albert Boxler Riesling Grand Cru Sommerberg Eckberg 2017  Front Label

Product Details


Varietal

Region

Producer

Vintage
2017

Size
750ML

Features
Green Wine

Your Rating

0.0 Not For Me NaN/NaN/N

Somm Note

Winemaker Notes

Rounding out this trio of masterpieces is Boxler’s towering Riesling Eckberg. From a steep mid-slope vineyard in the geographic center of the Sommerberg grand cru, in pure granite rising just behind the village of Niedermorschwihr, the Eckberg parcel will be vinified separately by Boxler in exceptional years. This vintage is notable for its power, concentration, and explosiveness. Also noteworthy is the fact that you can drink it now, as it is much more forward in style than the Dudenstein bottling we highlighted last month. Look no further. You have reached Riesling nirvana.

Professional Ratings

  • 96
    The 2017 Riesling Grand Cru Sommerberg Eckberg is very pure and fine on the flinty nose but perfectly ripe and intense, with notes of crushed rocks, lime and grapefruit notes. The palate is lush, piquant and very salty, revealing remarkable finesse and refined fruit. This is piquant and endlessly salty, with very fine tannins and great length.

Other Vintages

2020
  • 95 Robert
    Parker
2019
  • 95 Robert
    Parker
  • 92 Decanter
2018
  • 96 Robert
    Parker
2016
  • 98 Robert
    Parker
Albert Boxler

Albert Boxler

View all products
Albert Boxler, France
Albert Boxler Vigneron Jean Boxler Winery Image

The small family domaine in France that works traditionally using techniques and savoir faire passed down across multiple generations is under serious threat today. Consolidation, technology, regulation, foreign investment, globalization, and many other factors (all in the name of progress), threaten the great agricultural tradition of winegrowing in France, arguably the world’s greatest winegrowing culture. Few domaines in France embody this way of life more ably and proudly than Domaine Albert Boxler in Niedermorschwihr. Jean Boxler, many generations removed from his ancestor of the same name that moved here from Switzerland in 1673, currently rules the roost at this humble yet incredibly exciting domaine. Intense and serious about his land, his craft, and his wine, Jean is the genius behind what are certainly some of the finest white wines in Alsace (and the world).

World War II brought Jean’s grandfather Albert back to Niedermorschwihr from Montana, where he was busy enjoying the natural gifts of big sky country. After the war Albert returned to the family domaine in time to harvest the 1946 crop. He became the first generation to bottle the family’s production himself and commercialize it under a family label. The wine still wears a label drawn by his cousin in 1946. Albert’s son Jean-Marc continued the tradition for several decades until passing the baton to his son Jean in 1996.

The family’s holdings are centered around the ancient village of Niedermorschwihr in the Haut-Rhin, dominated by the imposing granite hillside grand cru, Sommerberg. Jean vinifies micro-parcels within this cru separately, de-classifying some into his Réserve wines and producing multiple bottlings of Sommerberg from the different lieux-dits depending on the vintage. Sommerberg gives racy, intensely structured, very long-lived wines. Riesling, Pinot Gris, and Pinot Blanc are the specialties of the domaine, Jean also produces one of Alsace’s best Crémants (and Edelzwickers), an incredible Gewurztraminer grown in limestone, and some of the most hauntingly pure Vendanges Tardives and SGNs in all of Alsace. If that weren’t enough, the Boxlers also own land in the powerful grand cru Brand, the ultimate counterpart to their holdings in Sommerberg.

The Sommerberg hillside terminates in Jean’s driveway, making it easy to basically live in the vineyards, ensuring exceptionally healthy fruit year after year. After harvest, the wines are vinified and aged in old foudres in a small cellar underneath the family home until bottling. Not much has changed over the centuries; not much has needed to. Tasting through the entire range of Boxler’s wines is ample proof of the fact that Alsace, along with Burgundy, is the source of the world’s most complex, exciting white wines, and will probably always be.

Image for Riesling Wine content section
View all products

Riesling possesses a remarkable ability to reflect the character of wherever it is grown while still maintaining its identity. A regal variety of incredible purity and precision, this versatile grape can be just as enjoyable dry or sweet, young or old, still or sparkling and can age longer than nearly any other white variety. Somm Secret—Given how difficult it is to discern the level of sweetness in a Riesling from the label, here are some clues to find the dry ones. First, look for the world “trocken.” (“Halbtrocken” or “feinherb” mean off-dry.) Also a higher abv usually indicates a drier Riesling.

Image for Alsace Wine France content section
View all products

With its fairytale aesthetic, Germanic influence and strong emphasis on white wines, Alsace is one of France’s most unique viticultural regions. This hotly contested stretch of land running north to south on France’s northeastern border has spent much of its existence as German territory. Nestled in the rain shadow of the Vosges mountains, it is one of the driest regions of France but enjoys a long and cool growing season. Autumn humidity facilitates the development of “noble rot” for the production of late-picked sweet wines, Vendange Tardive and Sélection de Grains Nobles.

The best wines of Alsace can be described as aromatic and honeyed, even when completely dry. The region’s “noble” varieties, the only ones permitted within Alsace’s 51 Grands Crus vineyards, are Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Muscat, and Pinot Gris.

Riesling is Alsace’s main specialty. In its youth, Alsace Riesling is dry, fresh and floral, but develops complex mineral and flint character with age. Gewurztraminer is known for its signature spice and lychee aromatics, and is often utilized for late harvest wines. Pinot Gris is prized for its combination of crisp acidity and savory spice as well as ripe stone fruit flavors. Muscat, vinified dry, tastes of ripe green grapes and fresh rose petal.

Other varieties grown here include Pinot Blanc, Auxerrois, Chasselas, Sylvaner and Pinot Noir—the only red grape permitted in Alsace and mainly used for sparkling rosé known as Crémant d’Alsace. Most Alsace wines are single-varietal bottlings and unlike other French regions, are also labeled with the variety name.

IPOPI_KL5844_2017 Item# 631392

Internet Explorer is no longer supported.
Please use a different browser like Edge, Chrome or Firefox to enjoy all that Wine.com has to offer.

It's easy to make the switch.
Enjoy better browsing and increased security.

Yes, Update Now

Search for ""