Alsace adventure (6) Domaine Kirrenbourg, the new star
Website: https://www.domainekirrenbourg.fr/en
Marc Rinaldi, the founder and owner of Domaine Kirrenbourg, has had three lives. Now aged 84, he began as a wood engineer, and developed a window system that he trademarked. When he sold the company he had a lot of money to spend. His second life was cars: in 1996 he created a race track in Alsace called L’Anneau du Rhin (https://www.anneau-du-rhin.com/) where people can bring their own fast cars to race. Then his third life was buying an Alsace wine domaine and reinventing it. Hence Domaine Kirrenbourg. In 2015 he bought the domaine Martin Schaetzel. He’d always liked Bordeaux wines, but he chose to invest in Alsace, his own region. Initially, the winery was called Martin Schaetzel by Kirrenbourg, but in 2019 when the new winery was finished it was renamed Domaine Kirrenbourg. Since then Rinaldi has bought a second domaine, Hurst, and altogether Kirrenbourg now has 22 hectares of vines. Winemaking is in the hands of ex-Kuentz-Bas winemaker Samuel Tottoli. Farming is biodynamic.
I tasted these wines with Marine Claude, who is director of sales at Kirrenbourg. They are really good, and it’s exciting to see what they are doing with Pinot Noir, in particular.
THE WINES
Domaine Kirrenbourg Pinot Blanc 2022 Alsace
Textured and quite rich, this has fine grained structure and notes of honey, peach and pear. There’s some richness here with a hint of sweetness. Textured, generous and finely mineral, this is really good. 94/100
Domaine Kirrenbourg Muscat Roche Granitique 2020 Alsace
Lovely floral grapey aromatics with texture and finesse on the palate. Shows sweet grapey fruit with some fine spicy notes and good precision. Pure and aromatic. 93/100
Domaine Riesling Roche Granitique 2020 Kirrenbourg Alsace
Young vines of Schlossberg GC, which is the biggest of the Grand Crus at 91 hectares. This comes from vineyards at the bottom, plus some just outside the GC. Fine aromatics with lively citrus fruit. There’s some mandarin and lime. Dry pure and mineral on the palate with stony notes. Bright and focused with lovely purity and taut lemony character. Refined and pure. 94/100
Domaine Kirrenbourg Riesling Terroir S 2019 Alsace
Lovely fine crystalline fruit with good acidity and spicy detail. Pure, zesty and mineral with nice finesse and lovely precision to the alert citrus fruit. Such a beautiful expression of Riesling. 95/100
Domaine Kirrenbourg Riesling Grand Cru Schlossberg 2020 Alsace
This is really refined with some richness to the lime and lemon fruit with a twist of apricot. Very refined with nice mineral tension. Stony and alert with precision and purity. 96/100
Domaine Kirrenbourg Pinot Noir Cuvée Mathieu 2020 Alsace
This is a blend of Pinot Noir from limestone and granite aged in Nomblot eggs and barrel, from Brand, Hengst and Schlossberg. Black cherry and spice with nice intensity. Fine spices and good structure under the fruit. Black cherry fruit palate with hints of meat and olives. Bold and grainy. 93/100
Domaine Kirrenbourg Pinot Noir Terroir B 2020 Alsace
Pinot on granite soils in Brand, with some mica as well as granite. Matured only in Clayver ceramic vessels. Ripe and aromatic with sweet black cherry and plum fruit showing such precision, and some mineral notes under the sweet black fruits. There’s a twist of salinity and the tension between the ripeness and precision is really good. 94/100
Domaine Kirrenbourg Pinot Noir Jardins de Oiseaux 2020 Alsace
Calcareous marl soils. Fresh and linear with good purity to the direct black fruits, with some cherry and spice. Notes of olive and cured meat, and some brooding personality. Ripe lush black fruits, no oak, and nice grainy detail, as well as some smoky minerality. 95/100
Domaine Kirrenbourg Grand Cru Brand Riesling 2019 Alsace
Granitic soils. Layered and textured with fresh mandarin and lemon fruit. Linear, fine and tapering with some pear and apple in the mix, and even some pineapple. 93/100
Domaine Kirrenbourg Sylvaner Terroir B 2020 Alsace
Sylvaner from Brand, granitic soils, 70 year old vines. Chalky, stony and mineral on the nose with lovely pear and white peach fruit, as well as some fine spices. Juicy and fine, this is ripe and layered. 93/100
Domaine Kirrenbourg Gewurztraminer Les Origines Macérations NV Alsace
A blend of 2019 and 2022, 15 days on skins. Nicely textural and spicy with fine pear, peach and table grape notes. There’s a bit of structure here. Supple and restrained, with the exotic characters of this variety dialled down. Some green tea notes, too. 94/100
Domaine Kirrenbourg Grad Cru Schlossberg Essencia Riesling 2020 Alsace
8.75% alcohol. Complex, intense, pithy and lively with tart lemon notes but also some peach and melon. Rich and expressive with lovely intensity. Very sweet but balanced: such a lovely wine with pure fruit. 94/100