Domaine Rolly Gassmann

ドメーヌ・ロリー・ガスマン

Alsace's master of opulent, decades-worthy estate wines

Domaine Rolly Gassmann is a historic family estate in Rorschwihr, Alsace, whose vinegrowing roots trace back to 1661 (the Gassmann family to 1611, the Rolly family to 1676). The modern domaine was formed in 1967 through the marriage of Marie-Thérèse Rolly and Louis Gassmann, and is today run by Marie-Thérèse, Louis, and their son Pierre Gassmann with a team of about 17 workers. The estate farms 51 hectares split between Rorschwihr and neighbouring Bergheim, divided into roughly 70 individual plots that are hand-harvested and vinified separately, yielding around 42 distinct cuvées each vintage. Vineyards are worked along organic and biodynamic lines (uncertified), with vineyard tasks often timed to lunar and stellar cycles. Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, Muscat, Auxerrois and Sylvaner are picked late to encourage noble rot and full physiological ripeness, gently pressed for up to twelve hours, and fermented slowly with indigenous yeasts over four to five months in the domaine's cool, deep cellars, where fermentation often halts naturally in winter and leaves a signature residual sweetness balanced by vibrant acidity. Wines are never released before a minimum of 11 months' ageing, and the domaine famously holds back well over a million bottles in stock so that most cuvées reach the market only once mature — many continuing to develop for 20 to 50 years.