Soil Therapy
Soil Therapy - Rittersberg 2024
Soil Therapy - Rittersberg 2024
Bright acidity with smoky minerals and smooth, honey
Price before GST
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60% of Pinot Blanc and 40% of Pinot Gris from the same plot, harvested on the same day, pressed together, and made entirely in 228L and 400L oak casks where they were kept for 10 months.
Except for specific vintages, the ageing duration of Rittersberg is always shorter than the other single vineyard wines, in order to retain the natural purity and refinement of this terroir.
1100 bottles produced.
Notes from Thomas, the winemaker:
Some places, like this one, feel like there is no more sense of gravity and time passing. It makes sense because this is the oldest soil in Alsace, namely 'Granite à deux micas', a rough rock that hundreds of millions of years have altered just enough to form a tiny sandy layer barely able to host life. In these hillsides, only the most audacious and rustic species (including vines) manage to dive in the cracks of the bedrock and survive durably, at the cost of an ascetic way of life where every single drop of water is precious if not vital.
From these poor and ultra-draining soils, the vines pull only the essentials, nothing superfluous.
They demand rigour and discipline to the grower, sharp reflexes and cold blood. The yields are low and the concentration is perfect provided that the winegrower managed to respect the balance of the place, which is not typically an Alsatian quality !
Wines from granite soils all have this elegant and stretched backbone, very vertical in a way, while the acidity of the soil balances the aridity of the place, providing tension and refinement.
Aridity that was an advantage in the very rainy 2024 vintage, while the vineyards with heavier soils suffered severe damage from mildew.
Soil Therapy
Founded in 2017 by Thomas Larmoyer, Soil Therapy is a terroir-driven micro-négociant at the forefront of Alsace’s new wave of winemaking. The project works closely with artisan growers practising organic and biodynamic farming, sourcing grapes from a small selection of lieu-dits chosen for their distinctive soils and individual expressions of place.
Sylvaner and Riesling form the heart of the range, which includes both single-vineyard cuvées and blends. The wines are made with a minimal-intervention approach, using spontaneous fermentations, co-fermentation in blends, extended ageing, old barrels and minimal sulphur additions. These methods are intended not to impose a house style, but to preserve the character of each site.
The resulting wines are precise, textural and mineral-driven, with the bone-dry finishes that have become a defining feature of Soil Therapy. They offer a fresh and contemporary interpretation of Alsace, distinct from the broader and sweeter styles historically associated with the region. Production remains deliberately limited, with every cuvée made in micro-batches.
A self-taught winemaker, Thomas previously worked as Sales Manager at Domaine Ostertag, one of Alsace’s pioneering biodynamic estates. That experience continues to shape Soil Therapy’s commitment to authenticity, precision and transparent expressions of terroir.