Achillée

The Dietrich family has farmed around Scherwiller, on the northern end of the Alsace wine route, since the seventeenth century - roots back to Dambach-la-Ville in 1620. Yves Dietrich took over in 1990, converted to organic in 1999 and to biodynamics in 2003 (Demeter-certified). The estate became Achillée - named for Achillea millefolium, yarrow, one of the preparation plants of biodynamics - when his sons Jean (viticulture and cellar) and Pierre (commerce) joined in 2016 and started bottling the family's own wine rather than sending the fruit to the co-op.

Around 18 hectares in Scherwiller and on the granite slopes above Dambach-la-Ville, worked by hand with native yeasts, unfined and unfiltered, minimal to zero SO2. The variety set is the classic Alsace seven - Riesling, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, Gewürztraminer, Sylvaner, Muscat - plus Auxerrois and a little Chardonnay for the Crémants.

The cellar itself is part of the story. Built in 2016 out of timber and roughly 100 tonnes of straw - around 5,000 self-supporting bales - it is reportedly the largest straw-bale building in Europe, passively cooled and heated, holding 13-14°C year-round without any mechanical climate control.

The range is dominated by the Grand Cru Frankstein (granite, Dambach-la-Ville), which is the serious-Riesling showpiece; the communal Riesling Scherwiller; the schist-driven Riesling Schieferberg; a Pinot Noir in the lighter natural-wine register; and two Crémants - a zero-dosage and a solera blend. Pierre also runs a separate négoce line, Pépin, with Xavier Couturier and Pierre Sanchez (Duo Oenologie): purchased organic fruit, Vin de France rather than AOC, a pét-nat (Muscat / Auxerrois) and a light skin-contact white the most widely seen bottles.