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THE 17 TH -CENTURY CELLAR DOOR TO THE WINERY AT DOMAINE WECK
CLÉMENT WECK AND HIS WIFE JACQUELINE, WITH THEIR SON MATTHIEU AND HIS WIFE ISABELLE
DOMAINE CLÉMENT ET MATTHIEU WECK: CRAFTMANSHIP AT WORK
A coat of arms dating from 1696 acts as a symbol. The Weck family is one of the oldest lineages
in Gueberschwihr, a village renowned for its timber-framed houses and its vineyards. Clément
Weck, who was born in 1942, quite naturally perpetuated the family farm before abandoning mixed
farming in 1973 in order to fully devote his time to growing grapes and bottling all of his wines. In
1995, at the age of just 23, his son Matthieu joined him after studying viticulture and wine and spirits
marketing. “Crémants account for 20% of our production”, he explains. “The fruit mostly comes
from old vines with blends that vary depending on the desired wine style”. Artisanal techniques are
used in the vineyard, where machine passes – which damage and compact the soil – are kept to a
minimum. Picking the grapes by hand maximises cluster selection whilst at the same time showing
respect for the soils and avoiding compaction. “Crémant is an alternative to Champagne”, concurs
Clément Weck. “But it is also a competitor because although winemaking methods are similar, the
price makes it more accessible to a wider audience. Our selection is increasingly comprehensive,
ranging from zero dosage to Brut and Demi-Sec”.
DOMAINE AIMÉ STENTZ: TYPICITY AND FLAVOUR
Time has worked its magic in Wettolsheim. In 1919, Jacob Stentz bought a village inn here and
turned it into a winery. For many years, the wines were sold in bulk, but in 1960, Aimé Stentz and
his wife Angèle gave the winery a new lease of life by showcasing the vineyard sites and production
processes. Fifth-generation winegrower Marc Stentz, their grandson, joined the winery for his
first vintage in 2011. Since 2016, he has run the 13-hectare, organically farmed property. “Our four
SPRING 2024 • GILBERT & GAILLARD - THE FRENCH EXPERTS ON WINE
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