Bott frères

Who: Nicole Bott and Gladys Wintermantel

Where: Ribeauvillé (Alsace, France)

What grapes: Sylvaner, Pinot Blanc, Muscat, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir

Key facts: Established in 1835, Bott-Freres is a 7th generation family-owned and operated winery. Average vine age at the domaine is 35 years. On 17ha of land, the winery grows all seven traditional varieties for the region.

Website: https://bott-freres.fr/en/

Instagram: @bottfreres

It looks like a wedding cake, or an elaborate municipal building. The architecture is fancy. Established in 1835, Bott-Freres is a 7th generation family-owned and operated winery in Ribeauvillé, in the heart of vinous Alsace. The two brothers who founded the winery migrated to Alsace from Switzerland. They were originally beer makers. In 1889, the winery moved from the” city center” to its current location. Ribeauville in 2023 has 5,000 residents. It was hardly an epic relocation.

I drove there from Colmar, across the vine-covered plain, and up a gentle slope to the center of this affluent, wine-filled village. It was raining. Bott-Freres is perhaps a kilometer from the center of town. I hustled across the two-lane residential street, and was soaked in seconds, well before reaching the winery’s door.

Inside the spacious tasting room and wine shop that occupy a significant portion of the first floor, I met Nicole Bott and Gladys Wintermantel, two generations of the family that run this historic property. Sixty percent of the winery’s total production is sold through their own storefront: impressive! Nicole has been working at Bott-Freres since the 1980’s. An effusive advocate for the wine and tourist attractions of Alsace, Nicole is married to Laurent, sixth generation of the Bott family, and the property’s in-house gourmand. Nicole and Laurent’s son Paul started working at the winery in 2008. In “retirement,” Laurent keeps himself busy delivering wine to 100 restaurants scattered across the Bas-Rhin. Not a bad way to get out and about. It beats pickleball.

Nicole and Gladys shared, in wide-ranging discourse and abundant bottles, a comprehensive view of who Bott-Freres are today. On 17ha of land, the winery grows all seven traditional varieties for the region. The farm has been certified organic since 2022 (two hectares of their vines are still in conversion.) All the farmers in Ribeauville are banded together to increase healthy farming. A community-wide biodiversity initiative! What a smart development.

Since 1962, there have been rules in place to limit permissible yields in Alsace AOC wines. Gladys is part of the Alsace wine committee, a group that develops and protects these quality-driven directives. Today, maximum yield is set at 60hl/ha in the area. Bott-Freres aim for 50hl/ha in their wines. Lower permissible yields are central to rehabilitating Alsace’s reputation in France. For a while things got out of hand.

Average vine age at the domaine is 35 years. Along with two helpers, Paul farms 45 distinct parcels of land. I didn’t meet him. Understandable. Sounds like he’s perpetually busy.

The tasting room was decorated for Easter. Felt bunnies, pastel eggs. Adorable. We passed through the public space and into a working part of the winery, filled with the normal array of bottling and fermentation equipment. Label machines. With the modern equipment we surveyed, Gladys noted they can now label 2,000 bottles per hour. They have a press on this level of the building that can be positioned above fermentation vats in the cellar below. Highly efficient.

The sun emerged. We popped outside, to survey fields stretching east from their wide balcony, parcels flattening as they march toward the Rhine. We were facing the Black Forest, one hour away by car. On a clear day you can see it. One million years ago, between these Vosges slopes and the forest on the horizon, the land collapsed, and became a shallow sea. Fossilized seashells are often found here, buried in the clay/limestone soil.

In spite of personal experience to the contrary, Alsace is the second driest region of France. The Vosges mountains block threatening storm fronts. Gladys and I left the veranda, chased by wind and black clouds. We descended into the winery’s labyrinth of subterranean spaces. In dim light, enormous füders filled a room. A 16,000 liter barrel dominates the space, holding court like a retired monarch. It was built in 1899 for the World’s Fair. The “new cellar” built 50 years ago is filled with cement and stainless steel. The winery’s storage and aging needs have changed from generations past. Many ancient casks have become decoration. However, the Bott family still vinify wines in 7,000 liter oak casks.

Antique bottles wrapped in cellophane filled a locked wine closet. We wound through passageways, past a museum's-worth of retired farming equipment. Family elders were quite attached to these historical artifacts. They are presented with reverence, and plenty of context. It’s fascinating to see bottle labels amended across eras of Alsace’s history. From 1871-1918 everything was legally required to be in German. So, across the span of almost two centuries, their bottles switch from French to German, and back again.