Domaine Mader is a very small family estate in Hunawihr, the next village south of Ribeauvillรฉ and one of the prettiest in Alsace. The domaine owns a little over ten hectares, including parcels in the Grand Cru vineyards of Rosacker at Hunawihr and Schlossberg at Kientzheim, along with Muhlforst, Haguenau, the gneiss soils of Burgweg at Ribeauvillรฉ and granite at Rosenburg.
Jรฉrรดme Mader took over from his father in 2005 and immediately began converting the vineyards to organic farming, gaining certification in 2007. He was also an early convert to screw caps: with the odd exception the whole range has been bottled that way since 2009.
Everything is hand-harvested and whole-bunch pressed, fermented with natural yeasts in stainless steel and aged on fine lees for six to eight months before a light filtration. A portion of the Rosacker Riesling and the gneiss-grown Burgweg goes into used barrels, as do the Pinot Noirs, which are raised in 600-litre casks. The Rieslings are made in a classic dry style built to age, and in exceptional years a tiny amount of Vendanges Tardives is picked in the same fine, elegant register. Around 5,000 dozen a year, from vines planted at 5,000 to the hectare.
