Domaine Hubert Metz is an Alsatian winery located in Cave de la Dîme, about 40 kilometers southwest of Strasbourg in premises, built in 1728, intended to collect the ancient tithe tax until the French Revolution. According to official documentation, it seems that the Metz family has been viticulture in the area for at least seven generations, up to the present day with Céline Metz, the first woman in charge of the family business. The projects of this young woman did not include viticulture but, after studies between Alsace, Australia and Corsica, a career in the world of communication and management consulting between Avignon, Strasbourg and Paris. The fate, however, wanted that, once taken over the family Domaine, she moved to Alsace, with her husband Jean-Michel, with the aim of restoring it to its former glory.
Today the estate covers 10 hectares, mostly located in the area of Blienschwiller, fragmented into many microparcels, each with unique characteristics, on which are cultivated the seven traditional Alsatian vines (Gewurztraminer, Muscat, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Riesling and Sylvaner). In the vineyard, the aim is to promote the vitality of the soil (composed of granite, sand, silt and clay) through the use of organic adjuvant preparations and the presence of animals between the rows. In the cellar the grapes, in an excellent state of health, are vinified with a scrupulous attention to temperatures and fermentations, with frequent decanting and filtration, all conducted with a focus on sustainability and ecological impact of each operation that has earned the winery the Terra Vitis certification.
Among the wines produced, this Pinot Noir Réserve de la Dîme (the tithe) deserves a special mention, whose grapes, after a careful manual harvest and de-stemming (in the cellar), carried out the alcoholic stopping and maceration for 3-4 weeks, in open vats. The malolactic fermentation, instead, took place in oak barrels where the wine was also aged for about a year, before being lightly clarified and bottled.
The 2018 vintage shows a color between ruby and crimson, with an olfactory range that starts with notes of vinyl and humus that slowly leave room for cooked plum, durone, Chinese lacquer and burnt rubber, with a tail of green branch of cinchona. The taste is quite soft and of great freshness (almost an idea of crunchiness), with good sapidity and delicate tannins, with the return of the dark spice and the branch of cinchona which is the last memory that remains after a finish of moderate length.
Rating: 88/100
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