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Mr. Frédéric Geschickt |
is the owner of a small organic winery located in Ammerschwihr in Alsace. The 11 hectares sized winery is producing bio dynamic products.
WB Center: What kind of wine do you produce?
Frédéric Geschickt:We have dry wines as well as sweet wines which are more aromatic like Late Harvest over matured grapes and big part of our production is at Crémant. Crémant means the same method as the Champagne. The difference is the region. We produce wines from all the 7 classical types of grapes from Alsace (Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Muscat, Sylvaner, Pinot Blanc , Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir).
WB Center: Your products are the Dementer ones. Can you explain what it is?
Frédéric Geschickt: Demeter is the brand for products from Biodynamic Agriculture. Only strictly controlled bound partners are permitted to us the Brand who not only works for wine products, but also cereals, vegetables and so on. For me it’s important that the bottles are also labels with this information. It is it not for marketing reason I want the bottles to be labeled this way; I want to mention Demeter in order to enhance and enlarge the method that allow us to produce good products..
WB Center: Who are you currently selling to?
Frédéric Geschickt: We are mainly selling to private people in France as well to restaurant and to the organic food markets. Our export market is growing. We are selling to Germany, Belgium, Japan and some to Denmark. Now, we are also starting with the Swedish market.
Frédéric Geschickt:restaurant & hotel tips:
1) Les 3 Merles, is from my village in Ammerschwihr. (Merle is a little blackbird). The food is not too complicated and has good balance between price and service.
2) Auberge des Franciscans, is located further south in Mulhouse city. Is a good place to discover the traditional food of the region.
3) Hotel Villa Rosa, is both a hotel and restaurant located on the hill over my village in Trois Epis. The restaurant of Villa Rosa offers organic gastronomy.
4) Lohkas restaurant, is located in Strasbourg not far from the cathedras offers traditional Alsation.
WB Center: Can tell us the origin and the reason of FestiCave?
Frédéric Geschickt: FestiCave is a festival that I and my family started in 2008. The reason was that we wanted to inaugurate our new cellar. However, I just didn´t want it to be only a wine event but I wanted to mix with paintings too. My nephews liked the idea and wanted to arrange the live music for the event. We were all excited by the idea and instead of being a wine event it turned to become a festival that went on for 2 ½ days! We named it FestiCave!
FestiCave is settled at our wine cellar, using every little corner as the first floor too. We cover the place with paintings, wine tasting and live music. You only need to pay for the reservation at the bar otherwise the entrance is free. There is free tasting, there are about 15-20 artists exhibiting their paintings and sculptures. It’s really joyful and entertaining. This year FestiCave will start on the 21st -22nd of August 2010.
WB Center: Which is your next event that you will be participating?
Frédéric Geschickt: In March, I will be attending as exhibitor at the Organic Wines Market in Montreuil (close to Paris) organized by the Boufons Bio. I like the event because it´s organic oriented. I like how the association organizes it because they are people who really believe in what they are doing. We are about 30 exhibitors so it´s pretty small.
WB Center: Do you have any contact with any other winery who you exchange ideas and recommendation with?
Frédéric Geschickt: Jean Pierre Frick is a good example. I like Jean Pierre Frick as a winegrower because he is very engaged person, social and a good man. His do also have a bio dynamic vineyard in Alsace. Other people that I like to share ideas with are Jean Michel Deiss from the Domaine Marcel Deiss and Nicolas Joly from Vignobles de la Coulée de Serrant.
Published March 2010 by Wine & Beverage Center, WB Center