Valentin Zusslin "Bollenberg" Sylvaner '19

Large white letters nestle prominently along the hillside, loudly insinuating its importance to anyone below, looking up. No, not "HOLLYWOOD." BOLLENBERG, it reads, built into the slope of the tallest of 5 limestone hills in the Rouffach Commune. Bollenberg Hill has seen its own fair share of sordid history, as the hill had drawn many herbalists and healers who would be burned for witchcraft.

It also has a substantial history of viticulture, with one of the driest microclimates anywhere in France. The stress here keeps vine yields very low, and the intensity in the glass is apparent. Zusslin's Sylvaner is savory, saline, flecked with herbs and wild fruits, carried along on an invigorating bolt of acidity.

To note, the Zusslin's have been a practicing biodynamic estate since 1997. Times for herbalists and healers on Bollenberg Hill are a lot friendlier than they used to be.