Domaine Alice Hartmann

Domaine Alice Hartmann is named after Alice Hartmann, who was gifted the property by family in 1927 as a wedding present. The main house dates back to at least 1824, with the cellar built sometime in the late 1790s. The Hartmanns were the first in the village to own a car, but tragically Alice’s husband died in a car accident in Luxembourg in 1937. She then took over operations, producing only Riesling at the time. That same year, she began replanting the vineyards to Riesling—vines, some of which are still producing. The winery is located in the small village of Wormeldange above the Mosel River. Their vineyard holdings span 15 hectares in Luxembourg, within a region that stretches about 40 kilometers along the Mosel River, with vineyards planted across four different villages. They also work with additional grower-partners. For reference, there are approximately 60 physical wineries 200 producers in Luxembourg.

Ms. Hartmann was one of the first women in the area allowed to inherit a property after her husband’s death, rather than having it revert to her parents. She had no children and passed away in 1987. Her nephew, an antiques dealer, inherited the estate but later sold it to Pierre Wesner and Jean Godart in 1996.

Pierre’s son Jos (who we met with) began assisting in the vineyard at a young age, enticed by his father who told him he could use the family car to get his driver’s license if he worked in the vineyards. In 2020, Jos officially took his family ownership of the domaine.

During World War II, General Patton stayed in the main home for a few weeks.

Both the home and the winery are located along the banks of the Mosel River. Prior to the formation of the European Union, border control was stationed on the bridge located just outside the winery.

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Viticulture is ‘low impact’ conducted entirely by hand on the narrowly spaced vines. Their vineyards are dry-farmed although this has become increasingly challenging with changing weather patterns—either rain every day or none for three months. While irrigation is permitted and water can be trucked in, it isn’t economically viable. The vineyards are farmed pesticide free.

Another vineyard under their ownership is located in Burgundy. On harvest day, they drive a truck to Burgundy, leaving at 2 or 3 a.m., arriving early in the morning, and returning in the afternoon to process the grapes later that same day.

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The original winery cellar is located below the main home, but is no longer used for their primary winemaking. The current winery was built in 2012. Historically, they also distilled on site, but today they produce wines at the winery, transport them to a distillery in the southern part of the country for distillation and then are returned to the winery where they are aged in used barrels. They produce several high proof brandies including from Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

In the early 2000s, the estate began producing sparkling wines. Luxembourg is one of the few regions outside of France permitted to use the term Crémant, and today these sparkling wines comprise 80% of their overall production.

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In addition to his duties overseeing Domaine Alice Hartmann, Jos is also an airline pilot for Swiss Air. He first visited San Francisco in 2006 during pilot training and soon fell in love with northern California. That year he spent three months in Florida but discovered that that the best route there was via San Francisco. Traveling alone, he drove to Napa Valley for the first time during that trip.

Starting in 2013, he began flying long-haul routes, making trips to the U.S. about twice a month for nine years. He met a number of winemakers in Napa Valley during these trips.

Their wine consultant, Andrew Kilian, lives near the winery and travels to Napa every few months for important wine decisions including barrel tastings. Through conversations with Andrew about his dream of starting a small wine brand in Napa, Jos was introduced to Marco Gressi at the Napa Valley Reserve, and later connected with winemaker Brian Brakesman through Brian’s brother in law, Mark.

In 2019, Domaine Alice Hartmann began the Napa Valley Project, with their first Howell Mountain vintage. The goal is to express Napa Valley terroir based on sub-appellations, particularly in Howell Mountain, Oakville and Atlas Peak.

Their Napa Valley wines are produced at Summit Lake Vineyards on Howell Mountain by Brakesman. Until 2025, their Napa Valley wines were sold exclusively in Luxembourg in three- or six-bottle wooden cases to existing customers. In 2026, they obtained the necessary licensing to sell in the U.S.

Select Wines
Sparkling
The Alice Hartmann Brut Nature is a blend of 50% Riesling, 25% Chardonnay, and 25% Pinot Noir, with no dosage. Medium gold in color, the fruited yet bright bouquet offers aromas of Golden Delicious apple, Meyer lemon, peach, Comice pear, and a finishing layer of vanilla. Fresh and balanced with a crisp character, the palate reveals flavors of golden apple, white nectarine, pomelo, and Bosc pear. The finish is persistent, clean, bright, and focused. Easy-drinking and crowd-friendly, this wine spent 24 months on the lees.

The Alice Hartmann Brut has a dosage of 11 grams of residual sugar and spent 18 months on the lees. The blend is approximately 50% Riesling, 25% Chardonnay, and 25% Pinot Noir. Medium gold in color, the bouquet opens with aromas of apricot, pineapple, golden apple, yellow peach, golden plum, and vanilla, accented by light floral notes of honeysuckle. Layered with fruit, this wine showed beautifully at the time of our tasting in April 2026. On the palate, it offers flavors of apricot, nectarine, Babcock peach, Bosc pear, and a gentle citrus character. Softer in texture with a rounded mouthfeel, it remains generously flavored and well-balanced, finishing clean with lingering fruit notes.

The Alice Hartmann Brut Rosé is made from 100% Pinot Noir and is pale copper in color. Higher-toned and delicately red-fruited on the bouquet, it offers aromas of raspberry, Rainier cherry, lilac, lime, and rose petals. Gentle across the palate, mirroring the aromatics, this wine reveals flavors of raspberry, a hint of watermelon, strawberry guava, and lime. It finishes softly, with a lightly rounded and supple mouthfeel. Crowd-friendly and easy-drinking, this is a particularly challenging variety to grow here due to hail and freezing temperatures at inopportune times, including during full moon periods. As a result, they do not produce this wine every year.

The 2017 Grande Cuvée is a blend of 50% Chardonnay and 50% Pinot Noir. The wines were aged separately for two years, followed by 81 months on the yeast before disgorgement. This was the first vintage designation. Medium gold in color, the bouquet offers aromas of apricot, yellow peach, nectarine, Alphonso mango, honeydew melon, and golden apple, evolving further with notes of vanilla. Bright and expressive aromatically, the palate is layered and deep, showing riper fruit characteristics including yellow melon, golden plum, citrus, apple, and pear, alongside finishing notes of brioche and yeast. Balanced throughout, it finishes with vibrant acidity.

Riesling
All their Rieslings are fermented using indigenous yeasts and are aged in stainless steel tanks.

The 2023 Domaine Alice Hartmann Wormeldange Koeppchen La Chapelle Riesling comes from a higher-elevation site located at the top of the hill, where cool nighttime temperatures help preserve freshness and contribute to the wine’s crisp acidity. Pale to medium gold in color, this wine is beautifully endowed aromatically, offering scents of honeycomb, lanolin, edia light kiss of petrol, lemon pith, and a subtle herbal layer including thyme. On the palate, flavors of guava, yellow apple, pear, and light citrus emerge, followed by a hint of oregano on the finish. The finish is bright and persistent, driven by the interplay between fruit and acidity, with the acidity seamlessly masking the residual sugar. Lively and refreshing, this wine is higher-toned in its youth, three years post-vintage. The mouthfeel is silky in texture, lifted and energized by its vibrant acidity.

For reference, Rieslings from their vineyards planted in shell limestone soils, generally develop petrol notes more slowly as the wines age.

The 2023 Domaine Alice Hartmann Wormeldange Koeppchen Les Terrasses Riesling, sourced from older plantings situated on terraces midway up the hill, is pale to medium golden in color. Very pretty and floral, the first aromas we noted were jasmine and honeysuckle, followed by additional scents of lychee, lemon, and dried herbs including thyme. Notably, there is no petrol character at this age. On the palate, this wine reveals flavors of honeydew melon, white nectarine, yellow peach, papaya, apricot, and Golden Delicious apple. The mouthfeel is lightly rounded yet lifted high by its acidity and a subtle perception of residual sugar. The finish is slightly tangy, bright, and fresh, carrying impressive persistence and layers of flavor. Highly age-worthy, we would love to revisit this wine again in 5, 10, 15, and even 20 years.

The 2018 Domaine Alice Hartmann Wormeldange Koeppchen Les Terrasses Riesling was tasted eight years post-vintage. Medium gold in color, this wine is floral while also beginning to develop subtle petrol characteristics at this age, which according to Jos will likely remain muted for some time. Additional aromatics include apricot and pineapple. Loaded with flavor and displaying all the characteristics we love about this variety, the palate offers notes of golden apple, pear, peach, and a finishing touch of dried herbs, including thyme. The finish is bright and energetic, with flavor and acidity paralleling each other for an extended time. Superbly balanced and still showing remarkable freshness, we suspect this wine will continue to evolve beautifully for many years to come.

The 2023 Domaine Alice Hartmann Grevenmacher Fels Riesling is medium gold in color. The bouquet is sweetly fruited, offering aromas of pineapple, baked apple, and lightly caramelized sugar, including notes reminiscent of crème brûlée and butterscotch. Intensely flavored and deeply layered, the palate reveals honeycomb, tangerine, honeydew melon, pineapple, apricot, and yellow peach. The texture of this bottling is particularly noteworthy; it feels lightly viscous, almost saline, with a velvety mouthfeel reminiscent of running one’s fingers across the fur of a miniature schnauzer. Yet it never feels heavy, as the wine’s richness is beautifully lifted by vibrant acidity. The finish lingers with impressive intensity and persistence. Very age-worthy. This vineyard is located close to the Mosel River and surrounded by trees, with its proximity to the river contributing to a windier microclimate.

The 2024 Domaine Alice Hartmann Wintrange Felsberg Riesling is pale to medium gold in color. The highly aromatic bouquet is immediately compelling, offering scents of pear and lemon hard candy alongside floral notes of honeysuckle and jasmine, with hints of lychee. The defining characteristic at this stage is its freshness. Vibrant and tangy, the palate delivers flavors of lemon drop candy, Meyer lemon, underripe apricot, white nectarine, pomelo, and tangerine. The finish is refreshing and persistent, with acidity and fruit paralleling each other beautifully over time. Highly energetic and clearly built for long-term aging measured in decades rather than years, the wine’s texture is elevated and carried by its vivid acidity.

The 2025 Domaine Alice Hartmann Ahn Palmberg Riesling comes from the only place in Luxembourg where wild orchids grow, perhaps contributing to the wine’s distinctive aromatic profile. Pale to medium gold in color, this wine is beautifully aromatic and sweetly fruited, offering scents of apricot, pineapple, Golden Delicious apple, Comice pear, and honeyed notes of honeycomb and honeysuckle. That honeyed character carries seamlessly onto the palate. Tasting this wine reminds us of coring Golden Delicious apples for homemade applesauce as a child and drinking the fresh juice. Additional flavors include bright citrus, i.e., lemon, and lime. Saline and briny both in flavor and texture, the wine is tangy, fresh, bright, and intensely flavored, with a long-lasting and persistent finish. Age-worthy and driven by a vibrant edge of acidity, this wine sings soprano at this youthful age. All of their Rieslings are exceptionally age-worthy and develop distinctive characteristics over time, but in our opinion, this bottling may prove to be the most age-worthy of them all.

Chardonnay
The 2023 Domaine Alice Hartmann Chardonnay Sélection du Château is medium gold in color and immediately expressive of the variety, offering aromas of popcorn butter, melon, light citrus, and a subtle note of hazelnut. Brightly lit across the palate, this wine shows a lovely tension between flavor, acidity, and texture. This is a particularly textural bottling, with a mouthfeel that is silky and supple, almost velvet-like. Balanced throughout, it presents a harmonious interplay of flavor, texture, and acidity. The palate reveals flavors of honeydew melon, Golden Delicious apple, butter, and a layer of vanilla. At 13.5% ABV, this is a ripe expression of Chardonnay, nicely complemented by its bright acidity. The vineyard sources change from year to year.

The 2022 Domaine Alice Hartmann Adigio is a blend of 50% grapes from Luxembourg and 50% Burgundy Chardonnay. Pale gold in color, the bouquet offers sweetly fruited aromas of honeycomb, baked pineapple, crème brûlée, vanilla, and butterscotch, though notably without a buttery character. The Burgundy fruit brings additional power and richness to this expression compared to the Luxembourg component. A highly textural Chardonnay, the mouthfeel carries a touch of viscosity with a rounded, supple, and silky feel. On the palate, the wine reveals flavors of Golden Delicious apple, pineapple, apricot, tangerine, and yellow plum. We especially appreciate the acidity at play here; vibrant and expressive, it parallels the fruit beautifully through the long finish.

Napa Valley
Cabernet Sauvignon
The 2021 Domaine Alice Hartmann The Napa Valley Project One is a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from Oakville, Yountville, and Calistoga, along with Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Merlot. Deep ruby in color, this wine smells ripe yet never crosses into overripe territory. In a blind tasting, we would not have guessed its listed ABV of 15.0%. The bouquet offers aromas of raspberry, cherry, boysenberry, and Santa Rosa plum. The focus here is clearly on the purity of the fruit, with the oak serving only as a subtle and supportive character. Ripe yet remarkably bright across the palate, this wine reveals flavors of cherry, plum, Persian mulberry, boysenberry, and blackberry. Despite the higher alcohol, it carries a compelling sense of freshness and balance. At five years post-vintage, the tannins are harmoniously integrated, lingering with a light tug on the finish. Brightly lit and energetic, the interplay between acidity, flavor, and texture beautifully conceals the wine’s alcohol.

The 2019 Domaine Alice Hartmann The Napa Valley Project Two, Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon is 100% varietal and aged in 100% new French oak. Deep ruby and nearly opaque in color, the first aromatic we noted was plum, closely resembling the scent of a ripe Santa Rosa plum, layered alongside blackberry, dark raspberry, and barrel influences including baker’s chocolate and dark cocoa powder. Ripe yet lifted with a clear sense of brightness, the palate offers flavors of dark raspberry, boysenberry, blackberry, Satsuma plum, and Persian mulberry. A light savory edge emerges on the finish, including smoked cedar, dried herbs such as sage, and crushed pepper. The tannins broadly coat the palate with a moderate tug that outpaces the fruit on the finish. Remarkably balanced for a wine listed at 16.0% ABV (not words we often use for wines of this alcohol), it finishes bright, energetic, and distinctly red-fruited.

The 2022 Domaine Alice Hartmann The Napa Valley Project Two, Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon is a 100% varietal bottling sourced from the west side of the Oakville appellation on the valley floor. This marks their inaugural Oakville release. Deep ruby and nearly opaque in color, the compelling bouquet is driven more by fruit than oak, offering aromas of dark raspberry, red cherry, red mulberry, boysenberry, and blackberry, with only a light and supportive influence from its time in barrel. This is a balanced expression of both the variety and the sub-appellation. On the palate, the wine leans more red-fruited than dark, revealing flavors of raspberry, red cherry, Persian mulberry, and slightly underripe boysenberry. Fresh and vibrant, it captures both the character of Oakville and the variety. The tannins are well integrated, carrying a light to moderate tug, while the vibrant acidity parallels the fruit in tandem across the persistent finish. Perhaps the most age-worthy of their Napa Valley wines we have tasted to date, this is a wine we would love to revisit over the next 10 to 20 years. Listed at 14.5% ABV.

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They present their Napa wines only at select events in California, such as the Jazz & Wine Festival in Half Moon Bay, Pebble Beach Food & Wine, Premier Napa Valley and Luxembourg National Day in San Francisco. And they travel frequently to places like Singapore and the United Kingdom to showcase their wines. The wines are highly regarded by critics and regularly show well at various competitions including AWC Vienna and TEXSOM. In 2010 their 2009 Wormeldange Koeppchen Riesling, “Les Terrasses” was awarded the best European Riesling by Meiningers of Best of Riesling, the world’s largest officially recognized Riesling competition.

Only 100-120 cases are produced for each SKU of their Napa Valley wines. In terms of sales, the winery operates primarily on an allocation model for their Luxembourg bottlings, with a waiting list managed through calls and texts. The wines are also available at a limited number of fine restaurants in Luxembourg and London.

The Napa Valley wines are sold through a wine club.

For more information about their Luxembourg wines, please visit: www.alice-hartmann.lu and for their Napa Valley wines, visit: www.alice-hartmann.wine.

The Domaine

Winemaking