Pierre Sparr Gewurztraminer, Mambourg, Alsace Grand Cru

Mount Sigolsheim, northwest of Colmar, was the high ground fought for in the battle of the “Colmar Pocket,” January 20 to February 9, 1945. On the summit is the French military necropolis commemorating this historic battle for one of the last regions occupied by German infantry. It took American and French forces three weeks in frigid temperatures to dislodge the German bridgehead. On the south-facing slope of this hill is the celebrated Grand Cru Mambourg. Records show that as early as the year 783, elegant wines of the present-day Mambourg were famous. The vineyard (61.85 hectares / 152.83 acres) enjoys optimum sunshine and scant rainfall. The soil here is lime-magnesium over calcareous and marl conglomerates that formed during the Tertiary period, 65 million to 1.6 million years ago.