This is something of a specialty. An ‘Orange wine’ made from Pinot Gris. The grape variety itself has a lot of color and conventional rosé wine from the grape variety is sometimes seen. Here, Becker has gone above and beyond and made Vin de Maceration, i.e. fully macerated wine with skins and seeds, just like when you make red wine (and orange wine). It gives an incredible color. It is matured in oak barrels before bottling and release. The grapes come from the field Grafenreben, which does not have official Grand Cru status, but at Becker is considered an excellent field – they call it Premier Cru.
Colour: Very beautiful, completely deep colored for a “white wine grape”, almost ruby red like a light Pinot Noir red wine and with an orange edge.
Smell: Unique and distinctive smell that differs strongly from most conventional wine. The fruity notes are well hidden behind a host of other types of notes. Here are herbs, black tea, licorice root, bergamot, fennel, something almost medicinal/vitamin pill, Chinese bark and Campari and then also small whiffs of strawberry, rose hip, mild citrus, peach and a little apricot.
Tasting notes: The taste follows the aroma and presents the same notes in a medium-bodied package with a medium level of tannins. Dry. Finishes quite far with an almost salty minerality.
Serving suggestions: Join us on the journey to discover what the wine world has to offer in terms of twists and turns as the winegrowers set out to explore unknown territory. Becker himself recommends it as a summer wine, and it will also work for most medium-bodied cuisine such as light meat, poultry and vegetable dishes.
Domaine Jean Becker is an old family-owned winery in Alsace with roots dating back to 1610. Since 1999, they have grown organic wine in their vineyards and have therefore only offered organic wine since 2001. Siblings Martine, Phillipe and Francois Becker, who run the house today, stay together with the rest of the company in Zellenberg in Alsace and most of the wines are made from the classic Alsatian white wine grapes: Pinot Blanc, Riesling, Sylvaner, Gewürztraminer, etc. but the family also makes individual red wines from Pinot Noir. Becker also grows wine on several of the very large Grand Cru fields, including: Froehn, Schoenenbourg, Mandelberg and Sonnenglantz.
