2016 Rolly Gassmann Pinot Noir, Alsace

Most people think of wonderful white wines when they think of Alsace, but the region also makes some delicious red wines from Pinot Noir, and Rolly Gassmann makes some of the most velvety luscious bottles from the region. 

The Rolly Gassman estate was created in 1967 when Marie-Thérèse Rolly married Louis Gassmann. Both families trace their roots back to the 1600s, so there is a very long tradition for making wines in the region. Today Marie-Thérèse and Louis’s son Pierre runs the estate. 

The domaine owns no Grand Cru vineyards, due not to bad luck but because of the oddities of French wine politics. The family is based in the village of Rorschwihr, and the villagers believed that the specific vineyard sites of the village, called lieu-dit, were superior to many of the other proposed Grand Crus, and so refused to join the Grand Cru appellation as they felt that would decrease the esteem of their historical vineyards. 

Pierre began the conversion of his vineyards to biodynamics in 1997, and today the wines are gorgeous. They are pure and intense, and represent a particular but wonderfully generous style of Alsatian wines.