Outrevin AC 2023

The Outrevin AC 2023 is Domaine Albert Mann's experimental plot: a Pinot Noir bottled as an orange wine, dry, at 13.0% ABV. Maurice Barthelmé has kept this side project going for years, without making much fuss about it. That fits the estate's outlook: force nothing, observe, respond.

The domaine is based in Wettolsheim, in Alsace. Brothers-in-law Maurice and Jacky Barthelmé farm 25 hectares, spread across nearly a hundred parcels and six Grand Cru sites: Schlossberg, Hengst, Furstentum, Steingrubler, Pfersigberg and Wineck-Schlossberg. They have farmed biodynamically since 1997. On the steepest slopes, horses replace tractors, keeping the soil uncompacted so roots can reach deeper. Jacky oversees the vineyards, Maurice the cellar, and Antoine, their son, now works alongside them.

Single-varietal Pinot Noir, also known as Spätburgunder in Alsace. For the Outrevin, Maurice Barthelmé follows his own path: the wine ages in clay amphorae and is made with almost no added sulphur. No oak influence, no corrective additions, just the variety, the vessel and time. It's vinified dry.

In 2012 the Barthelmés were named "Winemakers of the Year", though they mention it almost in passing. The Outrevin carries neither a Grand Cru site in its name nor any grand gesture: clay instead of barrel, almost no added sulphur, a wine born of decades of observation.