Rolly Gassmann — Rorschwihr
Marie-Thérèse and
Louis Rolly Gassmann, along with
their son Pierre, create wines
that are legendary throughout France and Europe but have seldom been
tasted in North America. A devoted clientele, including ourselves,
visits them yearly in Rorschwihr to taste and buy these remarkable
bottles. We’re simply delighted to be able to offer them in Ontario.
The philosophy that guides the Rolly Gassmann family centers on as
little interference with the vines as possible, rigorous selection of
grapes, and the most careful handling of both harvest and vinification
to produce wines of the highest quality and specificity.
"What talent! This domaine
is one of the fleurons of the
vineyard: it proposes muscats of dreams, gewürtz of legend and
sylvaner for celebration." Les
Saisons d'Alsace, Fall 2001.
In June of 2009, we met Pierre Gassmann at VinExpo in Bordeaux and took us through a selection of their current au cave list . As always, this tasting was deep and interesting, featuring as many as several bottlings of each of the important Alcasian varietals from the various sectionos (lieu dits) of their vineyards and in the vintages that they deem ready for market.
Sylvaner Weingarten de Rorschwihr 2005 — Glorious vintage that opens with a lovely nose of floral and fruit aromas that follow onto the palate with excellent complexity and balance, slight sweetness, and very good to excellent length. (JPO, May 2007).
Riesling Réserve Millésime 2004 — petrol nose, lovely exotic fruit, some sweetness still evident in this rather ‘young’ (for the Gassmanns) cuvée. (JPO/DMO, July 07).
Riesling Rorschwihr ‘Cuvée Yves’ 2002 — Bright start with striking minerality combined with highly floral scents, lean in the mouth and very complex and interesting flavours, excellent finish. (JPO/DMO, July 07).
Riesling Rorschwihr ‘Cuvée Yves’ Vendages Tardives 2000 — big nose of spicy fruits and petrol, waxy spice and fruits on the palate, spice and acid frame, very, very, very long. (JPO/DMO, July 07).
Pinot Gris 2004 — toast and mineral nose, lovely full mouth, excellent wet finish, very good length. (JPO, June 2008, Rorschwihr).
Gewürztraminer 2004 — Wonderful clean and spicy nose leads to very good concentration on the palate with a slight sweetness that immediately resolves into spice and very good length. Dominique’s favorite! (JPO, December 2005, Rorschwihr).
Gewürztraminer Oberer Wiengarten 2004 — A classic Gassmann Gewürtz that opens with a good deal of mineral on the nose, generous and filling in the mouth with lots of spice and ripe yellow fruits, typical RG structure that shapes and holds the complex flavours and leads to excellent length. (JPO, December 2006).
Just Arrived!:
Pinot Noir de Rodern 2002 - Refined blend of classic Pinot Noir aromas with a touch of Alsace smoke, very good balance of fruit and terroir in medium weight body – shows a delicate acidic structure and some light tannins, very good length. (JPO/DMO June 2008/March 2009)''
Our tasting notes from the summer of 2009