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Alsace · Section through Riquewihr and Beblenheim

Alsace: across the fault field at Riquewihr

From the granite of the Vosges, through the broken blocks of the foothills, out to the Rhine plain. Every few hundred metres the rock changes. Tap a layer to read it.

Swipe the plate sideways to see the whole section.

Schematic: the fault field between the Vosges and Rhine faults is drawn as one simple block; the real Ribeauvillé field has many more small faults and slivers of Jurassic rock. Layer depths and fault throws are illustrative and to be checked against the BRGM 1:50,000 sheet for Colmar–Artolsheim. Schoenenbourg lies about 0.7 km north of the line and Bott-Geyl's Zellenberg lieux-dits about 0.8 km north, so they are drawn dashed. Sporen is placed south-east of Riquewihr from Dopff au Moulin's description and Sonnenglanz by Beblenheim; neither is surveyed. Ground from AWS terrain data; Riquewihr and Beblenheim sit within 100 m of the line.

Key to the ground

6 layers, youngest at the top

    Single vineyards we pour from. Tap one on the plate.

    Why Alsace can ripen so far north

    1. The Vosges take the rain. Colmar gets about 600 mm a year, one of the driest places in France.
    2. The foothills face south and south-east and lie in full sun through a long, dry autumn.
    3. The rift broke the foothills into blocks, so neighbouring grands crus sit on different rock: Keuper marl at Schoenenbourg, Oligocene conglomerate at Sonnenglanz.
    4. That dry, warm autumn lets growers wait for late harvest and noble rot.

    Did you knowSchoenenbourg's Riesling was prized as early as the Middle Ages. Its gypsum-bearing Keuper marl lies right above the walls of Riquewihr.

    In the book

    Pas Mal wines on this ground

    Beblenheim, Riquewihr and Zellenberg

    Sources: Wikipedia, Alsace Grand Cru AOC and Schoenenbourg; alsace-du-vin.com, soils and geology; Gilbert & Gaillard, Alsace and its vineyard sites; winewithseth.com, Sonnenglanz; BRGM 1:50,000 geological map, sheet Colmar–Artolsheim; AWS Terrain Tiles; Dopff au Moulin, grand cru notes (Schoenenbourg, Sporen); Domaine Bott-Geyl, vineyard sheets.