2024 Willm - Pinot Gris Reserve HALF BOTTLE (375ml)

Maison Willm was founded in 1896 in Barr, a village at the foot of the Kirchberg de Barr Grand Cru in northern Alsace. Under the adventurous Emile Willm, the house was the first to send Alsace wine to the United States, shipping its first bottles in the early 1930s as Prohibition ended. Willm is best known for the Clos Gaensbroennel, a historic Gewurztraminer vineyard inside the Kirchberg grand cru. Today the house belongs to the Wolfberger group, a growers’ cooperative based in Eguisheim, and still sends most of its wine abroad.

The Réserve range is Willm’s classic expression of Alsace’s main grape varieties. Its vineyards around Barr rise from 200 to 400 meters, stretching from the foothills of the Vosges Mountains toward the Rhine plain, mostly on clay and limestone soils. The Vosges shelter the region from Atlantic rain, giving Alsace one of the driest, sunniest climates in France, which suits Pinot Gris well. The wine has a light touch of residual sweetness, balanced by fresh acidity.

The 2024 offers ripe orchard fruit and quince, with a hint of dried leaves adding gentle earthiness. The palate is supple and full, with honey and baking spice. Serve it with roast pork, poultry in cream sauce, smoked fish or mushroom risotto.