Flo & Nico Motz (Alsace) Les Sources 2024

I’ve recently finished writing my impressions of Yann Durrmann’s riesling (which I loved for its intensity and length – you can read the full post here) and now I move onto another riesling from the same vintage, but the style is rather different.

Florent and Nicolas Motz are two brothers located in Bernardswiller, less than 10km further north than Yann’s village of Andlau. In 2019, these two millenials decided to create a range of natural wines (“Flo & Nico”) from within the structure of their parents’ organic winery (Domaine Motz.)

It’s a dry, still riesling, spontaneously fermentated, no sulfites added, unfiltered etc… but compared to Yann’s riesling, this feels a little more like a wine that I’d open with my parents. Let me explain.

Yann’s riesling required a bit a time to open up, to express itself, whilst this is more immediate. It’s also tighter, tenser, with an acidity that reminds me of lemon juice. Fresh, salivating, great for summer. I know it’s not sauvignon blanc (so there’s no need to leave a comment 😉 ) but if you like the Sancerre style, you should try this. It’s got that taut, nervy personality. I dislike the term minerality and I try to use it as infrequently as possible, but in this case, it really is mineral. It leaves your mouth tingling a little. Speaking of stones, the back label tells me that the soil is composed of clay and sandstone, which undoubtedly accounts for the power and the persistence that you’re left with, even after the wine is no longer in your mouth.

If you’re wondering what foods you could pair this with: opt for oysters, or lemon sole, or anything fresh and lemony. Cerviche could be perfect. So too would be smoked salmon. And on that note, I’m going to go and see if I have anything in the fridge that I could rustle up for an apéritif…