Domaine Gruss
Domaine Gruss was founded in 1962 in Eguisheim by Joseph and initially covered 4 hectares. Passionate about wines of character, the Gruss family has continued to develop and currently owns 42 parcels spread over 4 municipalities (Eguisheim, Wettolsheim, Herrlisheim and Rouffach) for a total of 15ha in the third generation of winemakers.
The terroirs have diversified and each new vintage is an opportunity to forge a unique personality for each cuvée. To these varieties of terroir (mainly calcareous scree) is added the diversity of exposures.
The soils are worked and alive, revitalized by home-made compost. When needed, winter rye can be sown to restructure the soil. But nothing is systematic: there are almost as many ways of working as there are textures. The vineyard is managed with a reasoned approach; it will be the observation of the plant that decides whether to treat it or not, most of the time with sulfur, copper and nettle tea. The grapes are harvested by hand and transported in bunches to be selected. The pressing is long and the juice flows off by gravity. In the cellar, the production tool is modern (pneumatic pressing, thermoregulated stainless steel vats) without denying the quality heritage of tradition (centenary oak vats). After a 3 to 10 week fermentation, the wines remain in contact with their lees to enrich and stabilize them until March. Clarification is done with simple decanting and delicate filtration with diatomaceous earth. The wine is bottled before the heat of summer, preferably on fruit days and under a waning moon. The Grand Vin is born in his vineyard. Of course, it requires both the original generosity of the terroir and the complicity of the climate, but also and undeniably the passionate attention of men!