Domaine Sylvie Spielmann
ドメーヌ・シルヴィ・シュピールマン
Biodynamic pioneer on Bergheim's gypsum-fluorite terroir
Domaine Sylvie Spielmann is a family estate in Bergheim, Alsace, built beside a former gypsum quarry that the Spielmann family worked for over a century until 1969. Sylvie's grandfather Julien Spielmann began planting vines alongside the quarry business, and Sylvie took over the 9-hectare domain in 1988 at age 23, after studying viticulture and gaining experience in California and Australia. She converted the vineyards to biodynamic farming in 1999, joining the GEST group of like-minded Alsace winegrowers, and today works the vines according to the biodynamic calendar with preparations such as nettle, chamomile, horsetail, and silica. The estate farms two Alsace Grand Cru sites, Altenberg de Bergheim and Kanzlerberg, along with the lieux-dits Engelgarten and Blosenberg. Kanzlerberg's soil contains rare fluorite and barite crystallizations that Sylvie credits for the wines' distinctive minerality. In the cellar she excludes selected yeasts and enological additives, has not chaptalized since 2004, and has produced her first no-added-sulfur cuvées since 2011, aiming for wines that are pure, mineral, and built to age.
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Who Is This For?
For those who seek terroir-driven, mineral-focused Alsace wines from a trailblazing woman winemaker committed to biodynamic and additive-free winemaking.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is Domaine Sylvie Spielmann a biodynamic estate?
- Yes. Sylvie Spielmann converted her family's vineyards to biodynamic farming in 1999 and has practiced it ever since, joining Alsace's GEST group of biodynamic growers.
- What terroirs does the domaine work?
- The estate farms two Alsace Grand Crus, Altenberg de Bergheim and Kanzlerberg, along with the lieux-dits Engelgarten and Blosenberg, all near Bergheim on soils shaped by an old gypsum quarry.
- What makes Kanzlerberg's wines so mineral?
- The Kanzlerberg vineyard contains rare fluorite and barite crystallizations in its soil, which Sylvie Spielmann credits for the pronounced minerality in wines from that site.
- Does the domaine chaptalize or add sulfur to its wines?
- No chaptalization has been used since 2004, and since 2011 the estate has produced cuvées without any added sulfur.
- How did Sylvie Spielmann come to run the domaine?
- She took over her family's 9-hectare estate in 1988 at age 23, after studying viticulture and working harvests in California and Australia, succeeding her grandfather Julien Spielmann, who first planted vines beside the family's gypsum quarry.