Pierre Frick

France
pfaffenheim, Alsace

20000 bottles in the cellar

Specialities: White wine

Domaine Pierre Frick, in Pfaffenheim, in southern Alsace, which has been planted with vines for twelve generations, now has 12 hectares of vines (a third are leased). Six people work there throughout the year, led by Jean-Pierre and Chantal Frick.

All the wines come from vines managed according to the principles of biodynamics, applied very strictly since the teachings of François Boucher in the 1980s. Organic practice was chosen back in 1970 and biodynamic practice since 1981 (the first Demeter and Ecocert certification was obtained in 1986). Soil work also resumed in 1981, and since 1999 all rotary agricultural implements have been banned.

Disease protection relies mainly on Bordeaux mixture, with particular attention to the use of copper (never more than one kilogram per hectare per year). Sulfur on the flower completes vine protection against powdery mildew.

Harvesting is done by hand. Must enrichment has been proscribed since 1988. Grapes are pressed whole with a pneumatic press. The musts decant naturally and the wines ferment with their indigenous yeasts. The wines are racked a couple of times and receive minimal sulfur addition, but the domaine also produces some sulfite-free cuvées each year.

Maturation on fine lees takes place in old oak barrels (averaging 30 hectoliters) for 5-9 months.