ALBERT MANN 2022 PINOT NOIR LES SAINTES CLAIRES

WINE ADVOCATE 100 POINTS - "Sourced on a very rocky limestone plateau with just 40 centimeters of clay on top, the 2022 Pinot Noir Les Saintes Claires opens with a beautifully pure, finely intense yet expressive and very complex bouquet of perfectly ripe and concentrated fruit intermingled with layers of flowers, minerals (iodine) and herbs. Very saline and refined on the palate, this is a fascinatingly dense, very intense and complex yet weightless Pinot Noir whose mouthwatering character and persistent finish took my breath away when I tasted it last spring. The way this Pinot Noir from a place between the grand crus Furstentum and Mambourg pairs concentration with calcareous finesse and precision is unique in Alsace and so are the delicate, finely grained and flowing tannins. This comes from a one-hectare plot that yielded 27 hectoliters per hectare due to the right rootstocks, noble genetics and the high planting density. The 2022 is a magnificent milestone Pinot Noir for Alsace, and it is by far the finest Alsace Pinot Noir I have tasted in 10 years. It weighs in with 13% stated alcohol under natural cork. Aged in a maximum of 35% new barrels for 17 months."