JS-USA-Wine-Club in the spotlight this week: "Louis Sipp - Grand Cru Kirchberg Riesling 2014"

Appellation Grand Cru Kirchberg Riesling 2014 - box of 6
Locality The Kirchberg hill at Ribeauvillé. Classified as Grand Cru by a ruling of 1975
Tips for Consuming Will accompany any dish which goes well with a white wine which is both dry and ample like: shellfish and crustaceans, fish in sauce, river fish, white meat, hard cheese, goat cheese... It will also work well throughout an entire meal.
Price Box of 6: Euro 120,00
Remember this is the price charged at the winery, but without taxes so you have earned 20%
Handling, shipping and insurance for a box of 6 are Euro 126,= or Euro 21,= per bottle
Keeping the tax advantage in mind: the shipping price drops under Euro 20,= per bottle.

About the Wine maker
Created in the 1920s, the winery Domaine Louis Sipp is nowadays one of the most famous wineries of Alsace (3 stars in the Bettane & Desseauve wine guide).
With a 40 hectares vineyard certified as organic winegrowing since 2008 and located on the historical hills of Ribeauvillé, Louis Sipp winery produces a large range of wines that reflecting the outstanding geologic diversity (Hagel, Steinacker, Grossberg, Rotenberg, Muehlforst, Trottacker, Hagenau, Ribeauvillé).
The winery is known for the softness of the Grands Crus Kirchberg de Ribeauvillé and Osterberg white wines, but also for the quality of their sweet white wines ("Vendanges Tardives" and "Sélections de Grains Nobles").

JoliSoleil USA Wine Club

Shipping wines bought on a tour
People touring with us often have the problem that they cannot take many wines home when they have to fly. That is why JoliSoleil Winetours started to provide a wine shipping service for tour clients. We can ship the wines people have bought on a tour to many countries in the world.

Shipping wines to the USA
In 2016 we went one step further for our American customers. We started the JoliSoleil USA Wine Club.You can now (re-)order wines from Alsace, Burgundy and Tuscany from your home, to your home. We take care of all duties and custom papers. The wines will be delivered by UPS on your doorstep. For some wines this is the ONLY way to get them as they might not be imported in your country.

Of course there are shipping costs but as the wines are not consumed in France or Italy, you do NOT pay the 20% French (VAT) or Italian taxes on the bottle. All and all shipping wines has become easy and affordable now!

ONLINE SHOP

To start with in our Wine Club we made:

1. a selection of 8 Alsace wines from two wineries: Jean Paul Schmitt and Louis Sipp.
2. a selection by JoliSoleil of Burgundy wines in a subscription for 1 year. You will receive 4 times 2 boxes or 12 bottles, so 48 bottles per year.
3. a selection by JoliSoleil of Tuscany wines in a subscription for 1 year. You will receive 4 times 2 boxes or 12 bottles, so 48 bottles per year

• You can order these wines ONLINE in boxes of 6 via our Website or direct.

• The quoted prices in this webshop are including all shipping costs and insurances. Our shipping partner is Mbe. The wines will be delivered by UPS.
• Registering in our Club means that you will receive our Newsletter and special offers. There is no obligation for a Club member to buy, but we are sure you will find something. 

Remember for some of our wines this is the ONLY way to get them in the USA. So ..... apply for our Newsletter or better:

Become a member and start shopping today !

Spring is coming - Time to book your tour!

Spring is coming in France (Alsace and Burgundy in our case) and Italy (Tuscany)
Time to book a tour with us and enjoy life :)

Matinée traction animale 3ème édition - Pulling horses working in the vineyard

For the third year in a row mister Boris Kachelhofer and Jean Paul Schmitt wines in Scherwiller organised a "Pulling work-horse morning" in the wine fields. There were some 6 horses from different owners present.

By the way some winemakers really own a work horse to be used by themselves and some also rent them out to other wine makers.

Of course in the old days, before there were tractors, everybody had to use horses to plow and work in the dirt. But machines took over. In the philosophy of biodynamy the use of machines has many disadvantages. There are vibrations in the soil. There is the pollution of the exhaust fumes. Most important probably is sitting high on a machine that moves over the grapes, you cannot see well what you are doing from up there. The "feel" of the dirt and being close to the herbs and plants is very important. You could say that a biodynamic farmer/wine maker "reads" his land and the grapes.

It is amazing to see how well trained or actually I should say: how clever the horses are. My first notice was that the horsemen do not shout at the horses at all. On the contrary they talk in a soft calm manner with the animals. The horses of course understand "stop" and "go" but they also know when they have to go faster or for example pull. Then they know left and right or to go in a circle. Left and right can also be really one step to the side and then straight on again.

You could see that the horses often understood in which small corridor they had to go when they were directed in a certain direction..

Depending on the structure of the dirt and for example the angle the animals can work from a couple of hours to 5, 6 hours per day. Taking my photos and being close to them I could really hear them breathing hard, so 5 to 6 hours is amazing then.

Going uphill just with my camera I already felt my legs after a while. Imagine how these horses must feel at the end of a days work. They probably do not get a massage afterwards, although I am sure they are well taken care off.

 All and all it was very interesting to see again how much work it is to be a bio dynamic winemaker, also from this perspective.. Only logical that the prices from their products are a bit higher too.

Planning - Calendar

Visit Cortona and see the real "Bramasole" the house in "Under the Tuscan sun"

Read the book by Frances Mayes and/or watch the movie or even better: Let us take you there on a tour.




Cortona is beautiful. Checkout this little street:

Book a tour in 2017!