Alsace: Famille Hugel – Alsace's Geological Diversity

Located in Riquewihr, Alsace, Famille Hugel has been producing fine wine since 1639. Today, it owns more than 30 hectares of vines all located in the vicinity of Riquewihr, with half of its property under the Grand Cru classification. 

One of the unique features of Alsace as a winegrowing region is the incredible diversity of soils found in it. Geological formations astonishingly vary in age and origin within the shortest distances in Alsace.

In this video, Marc Hugel, technical director at Famille Hugel, describes and further explains these soil variations in the surrounding vineyards of Riquewihr. As Marc puts it, "If Alsace is the winegrowing region in France with the most diverse soils, Riquewihr has the most diverse geology in Alsace." However, Marc believes that only experience can really teach a winemaker how to genuinely express the unique soils through each grape variety, and at the same time, transmit the soils’ typicity to the wine.