THE HISTORY

In 1691 in Orschwihr, Cisele Jodocus gave birth to the Wine estate ZUSSLIN.

More than 300 years after, the wine estate is still alive and pools three generations of wine growers.
During all these long decades, the wine passion was in the centre of the vinegrower preoccupation, he took care of the soil, preserved the nature,   cultivated naturally and in accordance with the rhythm of the Earth… He followed the birth of the grapevine with passion and patience, the fruit of an “artist work”. 

Today, Valentin, Jean-Marie, Jean-Paul, Marie, Arlette and the whole Zusslin team perpetuate these traditions of the ancestors.

THE REGION

The Alsace Region is on the East of France near the German border, along the fault zone that gave birth to the Rhine basin.

Our vineyard is located in Orschwihr, south of Alsace (France), 20 kms from Colmar.
We enjoy a semi continental climate, which is particularly warm, sunny and dry.
The precipitation is almost the lowest in France (500 mm per year).
This climate ensures slow, extended ripening of the grapes which in turn favours the development of extremely elegant aromas in the wine.

We produce the entire range of Alsatian wines, by allying passion for the soil, research of the typicity and the character which are drawn out from local soils of the Bollenberg (a little unusual hill), the Clos Liebenberg ( Monopole) and the Grand Cru Pfingstberg.

The grapes used are :
Pinot Auxerrois, Riesling, Muscat, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Noir (Red wine), late harvest and Crémant (traditional sparkling wine - Champagne Method).
per year: 80 000 bottles over 13 hectares of vines.
to a comparison: Some 14 000 hectares produce about 150 million bottles per year in Alsace.
Our wine is sold in France and in 22 different countries.

OUR POINT OF VIEW AND OUR OBJECTIVES

First, we were both farmers and wine producers, nowadays, things are a bit different, we only produce wine, but we are still “agriculteurs”. That means, we work with natural elements; with what the planet can provide us.

Men forget that more and more!
In the Zusslin Family, we are concerned by the future of planet Earth and conscious of major problems caused by pollution, mechanisation, changes of the weather, degraded nature…
For us, respect of the soil, the plants, the insects, the human being and obviously the wine is paramount.

Since generations now, our policy has ever been:

“To produce the best quality which is possible with the grape grown from our soil - le terroir -, our passion, our knowledge and our envy to create a real pleasure to wine lovers”.

Faced with all these problems we mentioned, we had to change our way of working, find a solution to renew with the native soil that our grand parents had formerly.
All these points were fundamental and crucial to take the final decision. So, in 1997, Jean-Marie ZUSSLIN decided to transform and to reconvert the domain into a bio-dynamic vineyard.

This biodynamic culture is used to recreate (when it doesn’t exist any more) the balance of the natural environment and to promote biodiversity.

But first : What is “organic wine” in general ?

The first step is the reconversion, a period lasting for 3 years. You will be controlled by a national certification estate. You will enter into a contract : a strict Charter. Then if you succeed, it will give you the possibility to use, on your label the following sentence “wine made from grapes which have been grown organically”, and not “organic wine” It’s  doesn’t  exist yet. This means  wine without man-made fungicides, persticides, herbicides or fertilisers.
All these, damage the soil, and can end up in the wine as residue.

For information: there are up to 240 chemical compounds from spray residues detectable in wine.
We think that by avoiding these artificial components you get more authentic tasting wine and risk fewer allergic reactions. Both are worth it.
But for our purposes, “the organic” way does not go far enough in Mind and in Agriculture itself.

What is biodynamic farming ?

The Greek translation of biodynamic is BIOS = LIFE and DYNAMIS = ENERGY.

The principles of biodynamics were firmly rooted in a series of lectures given by the late Rudlof Steiner in 1924 to a group of farmers.
It is the regeneration of the forces that work through the soil to the plant, helped by enlivened compost or manure, that is the central aim of Biodynamics and which is conspicuously different to other organic systems.

To give back this vitality we use special therapeutic preparations for the soil, the plants and also for the compost and manure.

One of the basic principles of this agriculture is to manage the domain so as to form a holistic body integrating minerals, plants and animals, a unity adapted to the local ecological conditions.

What is different with the organic farming ?

- We use special sprays and herbal preparations to increase the soil fertility and to protect the wines from pests and diseases.
- We consider the effect of the sun, the moon and the planets on the evolution of the plants i.e. the wine.

Lunar cycles, earth rhythms are employed to ensure that activities in the vineyard or winery are correctly timed.
In short terms, we are aiming to harmonise the rythm of the wine with its capacity to bear fruit.
Biodynamics provide a sustainable agriculture answering the urgent need to heal the earth and provide nourishing food for the whole human being.

But what are these special sprays ?

- P500 (horn manure) vitalizes the soil; enhance root formation and primary shoot development. Personally we spray it 3 times a year at the beginning of the spring. It reinforces subterranean life;

- P501 (horn silica) stimulates the photosynthesis, and attracts light forces into the vineyard. It is sprayed twice a year: once after the harvest and once before the flowers come out.

- MT (Maria Thun) a manure compost that reinforce the decomposition process of the soil.

- The Compost. The bedrock of any biodynamic or organic operation is the  compost which is a manure for the vine. It will be spread on the soil and so nourish it.

- The Preparations made from different plants - which are fundamental to the biodynamic approach: yarrow, chamomilla, nettle, oak bark - are added to the compost. They work to regulate the composting processes and to enable the different elements (calcium, nitrogen, phosphorous, etc) needed for healthy plant growth.
The 6 compost preparations are .
Prep 502 = yarrow flowers
503 = camomile flowers
504 = stinging nettle
505 = oak bark
506 = dandelion flowers
507 = valerian flowers
These preparations are made up in various ways, using specific animal organs.
We make these preps with a group of farmers, winegrowers and garderners in a farm of our region once a year.
The whole point is to stimulate the vine into protecting itself from pests and diseases rather than resorting to chemical sprays.
Observation of the nature and anticipation of the diseases are two of the main farmer works.

Biodynamics means a lot of hand made works

As we do not use chemical products, we had to adapt our machines, buy new ones, relearn old and fundamental agriculture uses and “habits”, increase the manual labour, do a lot of work by hand for examples:

Guyot pruning, trellising, thinning out the leaves, clipping, green harvest, and picking. Work of the soil is important and is strengthened by hoeing, ploughing, etc.
Each year we try to reduce the use of the agricultural machines to avoid compressing, or tamping the ground due to their weight. For our purposes, we prefer lighter tractors (crawler for example or horses). That is why it costs a lot… but what a relief working with natural elements!

Since March 2004, horses, an other integral part of biodynamics, have been using from the Vosges to plough a part of the Zusslins vineyard.

Domaine VALENTIN ZUSSLIN is controlled by:

 
View of Orschwihr (right : Bollenberg; left : Grand cru Pfingstberg)