Alsace grand cru Florimont

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The vineyard is situated on well-exposed slopes, oriented from east to south-west, on the steep hillsides of the Vosges foothills, sheltered by the Vosges massif from the cool, damp winds of the north-west.
• Situated on a prominent spur of the Vosges foothills, this grand cru benefits from a warm, dry mesoclimate favourable to the early ripening of the grapes.
• The bedrock is characterised by Bathonian and Bajocian limestone, overlain at the lower reaches of the slope by Oligocene conglomerates and marls, giving rise to relatively stony marly-calcareous soils.
• Florimont corresponds to the eastern face of the Dorfbourg hill, an outlier whose summit is composed of Upper Bajocian oolitic limestone, a hard rock that has resisted erosion better than the neighbouring marls or soft limestones. (via Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0)
• The vines grow on soils overlying conglomerates from the early Oligocene, dated to the Lattorfian, several hundred metres thick and formed from the erosion of the Vosges following the collapse of the Rhine Graben. (via Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0)

• The appellation d'origine contrôlée 'Alsace grand cru Florimont' was recognised in 1992, reflecting the long-standing practice among Alsatian wine-growers of communicating the geographical origin of their wines.
• The vineyard is trained using high trellising in order to achieve an optimal leaf canopy surface, with a minimum planting density of 4,500 vines per hectare and manual harvesting of the grapes.
• Wines bearing the Vendanges Tardives and Sélection de Grains Nobles designations are produced from over-ripe, fragile grapes harvested by hand, with a minimum ageing period of 18 months.
• Since the law of 5 July 1972, the wines must be bottled in the Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin departments, traditionally in the flute-shaped bottle of the 'Vin du Rhin' type as described in the 1955 decree.

• These are age-worthy white wines characterised by a pronounced freshness rooted in a dominant tartaric acidity, underpinned by good grape ripeness.
• The mineral dry wines and the aromatic, fruit-forward, full-bodied and rich wines display a sustained depth of colour ranging up to golden yellow.
• Vendanges Tardives wines often show highly exotic aromas and candied fruit with a fresh finish, while Sélection de Grains Nobles wines are more concentrated and powerful, frequently displaying fruit-paste aromas.
• These wines bearing the Vendanges Tardives and Sélection de Grains Nobles designations are sweet wines of exceptional longevity, remarkable concentration, and great aromatic persistence.

• The climatic characteristics and the strength of the calcareous marls make Florimont an early-ripening, warm grand cru that yields powerful wines of great finesse.
• The favourable late-season climatic conditions, which promote concentration on the vine and the development of noble rot, allow the production of wines from over-ripe harvests.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in France

Sources

• Product specification (BO Agri, PDF), JORF 29 juin 2016,
• Official INAO text (show_texte)
• INAO product entry
• Official trade body site — CIVA