Bianco 'Alliance' Marc Tempè 2019

'Alliance' is the alliance that Marc Tempé achieves so spontaneously in his cellar between some of the typical Alsace grape varieties: a white wine that stands out for its fruitiness and fullness, an expression of a richness capable of conferring an excellent aptitude for ageing.
Marc Tempé makes 'Alliance' through the blending of three distinctive Alsatian varieties such as Sylvaner, Pinot Blanc and Chasselas. The vines clustered around the Zellenberg hill are planted on a clay-marl soil matrix, which covers a lithologically very complex terrain: dark grey schistose marls are interspersed with fine veins of white limestone mixed with carbonate and iron modules. The reference plots extend on the slopes of the Vosges, in the immediate western vicinity of the country: just one kilometre north of Riquewihr and close to the boundary between the departments of Upper and Lower Rhine, the heights between 300 and 200 metres above sea level slope down towards the Rhine plain, which flows further east. The biodynamic approach is the working method used in the field, accompanied by manual harvests and very limited yields. In the cellar, Marc carries out a slow and gentle pressing of the whole bunches, with static decantation of the must for 24 hours and spontaneous fermentation guided solely by the work of indigenous yeasts. Subsequent ageing takes place in old oak foudres for a period of 24 months and bottling involves no further manipulation other than a barely noticeable dose of sulphur dioxide.
Marc Tempé's White 'Alliance' offers the eye a luminous straw colour with warm golden reflections. Maturity and tension are the two souls that can be picked up on the nose: scents of wild flowers and yellow pulp are laced with deeply marine iodine sensations. The announcement of great mineral intensity is confirmed on the palate: vertical, fresh and saline, without neglecting a fruity fullness that gives comfortable density to the palate.