Domaine Albert Mann

This special event was organised by the Alsace Wine & Gastronomy Society, Singapore, on 27 August 2016, and I replicate the succinct introduction by the Society’s President, Mr Julian Teoh, about this estate: There are, perhaps, no greater believers in the magic of Alsace’s terroir than the Barthelmés of Domaine Albert Mann in Wettolsheim.  Named French winemakers of the year 2012 by Revue du Vin de France (RVF) and rated in the top tier of French winemakers in RVF 2016, Mann is a true family operation run by two couples: Maurice (winegrower) and Marie-Claire (daughter of Albert Mann, who runs the business), and Jacky (Maurice’s brother and winemaker) and Marie-Thérèse (marketing and export).  

The biodynamic wines of Albert Mann are natural and authentic expressions of their soil and environs.  Emphasising low yields per vine (never per hectare), the Barthelmés exploit some 21 hectares held as hundreds of different plots, including in the Grands Crus Schlossberg and Furstentum of Kientzheim (Maurice and Jacky’s inheritance from their mother, a member of the Blanck family of Kientzheim), and Steingrubler, Hengst and Rosenberg of Wettolsheim.  Maurice, a marathon runner in fact and temperament, tends to each plot as one would a beloved garden.

For this tasting, the first time Albert Mann wines have been formally showcased in Singapore, we have controlled all potential variables – vintage, grape variety, winegrower – bar one, the vineyard and its unique terroir, so tasters can discern its full impact on the finished product. 

The Society is most grateful to Marie-Thérèse and Domaine Albert Mann for making this tasting happen.

Julian is a hands-on President

2015 Albert Mann Cuvee Albert Riesling. This wine opens with a mild floral fragrance, leading to good intensity, concentration and great acidity on the palate leading up to a gentle citrus spine, displaying good focus and finish with a deep overtone of caramel.

2015 Albert Mann Rosenberg Riesling 1er. Very enticing bouquet, more minerally than the preceding Cuvee Albert, though restrained with a certain gentleness on the palate with subdued acidity, some sweetness and good body with a bit of ferrous trace, turning spicy at the edges as it got too warm.

2015 Albert Mann Schlossberg Grand Cru. Lovely floral fragrance, more flinty over time, medium-full with excellent concentration of fruit, minerals, spicy characters and green pepper, still tight, finishing with great length. Excellent.

2013 Albert Mann Cuvee Albert Pinot Gris. There is plenty going on the nose where mild tropical fruit flavours and green citrus dominate, replicated on the palate with good concentration and intensity, quite open, though without much complexity yet.

2013 Albert Mann Hengst Pinot Gris Grand Cru. Lifted floral fragrance with notes of sweet icing, mellow and rounded on the palate with a mild dark spicy tone of sweet raw nutmeg amidst subdued acidity, lacking in true complexity.

2013 Albert Mann Furstentum Pinot Gris Grand Cru. Lifted aromas of sweet fragrance, very fine and ethereal with excellent detail on the palate, displaying good depth and balance with very fine, fleeting peppery notes with some nutmeg. Excellent.

2014 Albert Mann Steingrubler Gewurztraminer. Beautiful, deep, luxuriant notes of longans and lychees, very controlled with subdued sweetness, layered with well-integrated acidity, already displaying some early complexity. Very lovely. Excellent.

2014 Albert Mann Furstentum Gewurztraminer VV Grand Cru. An equally lovely but deeper bouquet here, broader with controlled sweetness, very harmonious with notes of green melons, mint, grassy elements and nutmeg, displaying excellent linearity. Excellent.