Schlossberg

Eight kilometers from Colmar, Schlossberg overlooks the Weiss valley, from the outskirts of the town of Kientzheim to the medieval castle of Kaysersberg. The 80.28 hectares of the Grand Cru take place on a very steep hillside which required the installation of terraces. More than a thousand meters of retaining walls, built in the Middle Ages, have since been patiently restored.

Harmoniously arranged, the plots overlap in a succession of terraces, between 230 and 400 m above sea level. The majority of the Grand Cru faces due south on the side of the hill.

Sheltered by the chains of the Vosges massif against bad weather regularly coming from the West, the Schlossberg flourishes in a particularly mild area with an annual average exceeding 10° C and a rainfall regime reduced to 500, even 600 mm/year .

This sandy soil, coarse and clayey at the same time, constitutes an arena rich in mineral elements (such as potassium, magnesium, fluorine or phosphorus) of great diversity and with low water retention.

Soil depths are generally between 30 and 40 cm, and do not exceed 125 cm. The particle size spectrum of the soil is that of a sandy-loamy soil poor in fine elements, greater than 50 microns, but rich in sand.

Furthermore, the Schlossberg benefits from a wind regime favorable to viticulture. At the end of August, the fresh air flows from the bottom of the Kaysersberg valley ventilate the vineyard and greatly contribute to the slow ripening of the berries, and consequently, to the development of aromas of great finesse.

The material constituting the parent rock results from the crystallization by metamorphism of migmatites (mixture of gneiss and granite) and biotite granite from Kaysersberg.