The Mader domaine is a very small quantity, high quality wine producer based in the picture postcard village of Hunawihr in the middle of vineyards on the Route des Vins. The family own 9 hectares of vineyards, including  prized holdings of vines in the famous ‘Rosacker’ Grand Cru vineyard and also now in the Grand cru Schl0ssberg. All vineyard work is carried out by hand and since 2005 their son Jerome is now running the estate having studied and gained a Diploma in Oenology. Since returning to the family estate Jerome has also converted all their vineyards to bio-dynamic viticulture.

The StarDozen consists of the following:

3 bottles         Jean Luc Mader Pinot Blanc 2022
3 bottles         Jean Luc Mader Riesling 2022
3 bottles         Jean Luc Mader Gewurztraminer 2023
3 bottles         Jean Luc Mader Pinot Gris 2022

Jean Luc Mader Pinot Blanc 2022
Made from a blend of 60% Auxerrois and 40% Pinot blanc. Fine, racy and floral. Classic white flower and citric aromas lead to a crisp and refreshing palate. For so long Pinot blanc has been considered as an aperitif wine to start the meal but given a wine of this intensity and character this wine is a whole lot more than a simple aperitif wine – it is remarkably complete with wonderful intensity and personality.

Jean Luc Mader Riesling 2022
This wine also contains almost 10% de-classified Grand Cru fruit from vines around 30 years old in the great Rosacker vineyard. The wine is a blend of several sites of mostly limestone based soil. 2022 has produced a fine dry Riesling with texture and depth. Intense floral and citrus aromas with mineral backing and wonderful acid backbone.

Jean Luc Mader Gewurztraminer 2023

The 2023 Gewürztraminer comes entirely from Grand cru Rosacker which exceeded the yields allowed for Grand cru and as such has had to be de-classified in this vintage. Also notably the wine fermented almost totally dry finishing with just 3.5 g/L residual sugar making this one of the driest Gewürztraminer. What an outstanding success this has proven to be, showing the signature rose petal aromatics so typical of this terroir. Whole bunch pressed with natural fermentation and ageing on lees for 6 months. It has a clear and fresh, pretty, precise and aromatic bouquet of rose water and wild roses with some smoky spicy aromas finishing dry and very long making this incredibly moreish. A fine and refreshing gewurztraminer to drink by the bottle not just by the glass. Another outstanding success in this vintage.

Jean Luc Mader Pinot Gris 2022
Very fresh and fragrant, peach, apple and tropical fruit characters on the nose and palate. Round and supple in texture, with wonderfully precise flavour. Great concentration and depth with a tiny amount of residual sweetness (7.8gms/ltr) in this cool vintage. The rich texture and cleansing acid balance gives this wine terrific length and great appeal.