Jean Sparr, who founded the Sparr winery in 1680, was born in the Alsace village of Sigolsheim. Over the next 300 years, nine successive generations of the Sparr family worked the land, maintaining and expanding their estate. When Pierre Sparr took over the winery in the early 1900s at the age of 20, his innate business sense made him one of the pioneers in estate bottling in Alsace. For the Sparr winery, meticulous care of the vineyards is of paramount importance. Their philosophy is that “the quality of a fine wine already exists in the grape.” In other words, the quality of a wine is determined in the vineyard — by viticulture and especially by the soil. In 1996 a procedure was put in place that assures the precise choice of grapes to produce the finest cuvées. Further steps in the vineyards — avoiding chemical fertilizers and pesticides, limiting yields, harvesting by hand – give full expression to the individual terroir found in each of its wines.
Alsace has been celebrated for its lovely, dry white wines for centuries, but it has gained a reputation for enticing traditional method sparkling wines, produced in the same manner as in Champagne. In the heart of Alsace’s finest district, the Haut-Rhin, Maison Pierre Sparr follows a 300-year-old tradition of winemaking that began during the reign of King Louis XIV. The devotion to the land, the attention to the smallest detail and the uncompromising quest for excellence is in every bottle bearing the Sparr family crest.
Pierre Sparr, Brut, Cremant NV
Whole-cluster pressing; first fermentation occurs in temperature-controlled, stainless-steel vats, transforming the must into still wine. Six months later, the wines are blended to achieve the distinctive flavor profile of the brut réserve. Blended wine is then bottled with a specific yeast added to relaunch the second fermentation in bottle. The wine rests on lees a minimum of 12 to 16 months prior to disgorgement. Finally, the dosage is added to provide the particular brut style of this sparkling wine.
Pierre Sparr, Brut Rosé, Cremant NV
Whole-cluster pressing; first fermentation occurs in temperature controlled, stainless-steel vats, transforming the must into still wine. Six months later, wines from hillsides and valley floor are blended to achieve the distinctive flavor profile of the rosé. Blended wine is then bottled with a specific yeast added to relaunch the second fermentation in bottle. The wine rests on lees a minimum of 18 months prior to disgorgement. Finally, the dosage is added to provide the particular brut style of this sparkling wine.