Domaine Lissner

Bruno Schloegel gave up an office life to take over the family winery, where he and his son Théo produce incredible ultra-low-intervention wines. They grow what you’d expect in Alsace, namely Pinot Noir, Auxerrois, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Gewürztraminer… but they don’t grow it the way you’d expect. Inspired by Masanobu Fukuoka, a Japanese farmer celebrated for his natural method of farming, Théo and Bruno don’t trim their vines instead they use a method called weaving. They don’t cut anything between the vines either, letting the wine compete with other flora, and as a result have an incredible biodiversity in their vineyard.

There’s been wine in the Lissner cellar since the mid 1800s, but Bruno fled his desk job and took over the winery from his uncle Clement in 2001. Now he runs the winery with his son Théo. Everywhere in Alsace is not far from Strasbourg, and the Lissner winery in Wolxheim is no exception. The Fukuoka method is sometimes called "do-nothing farming," which in the case of the Schloegels is a bit misleading since they work as hard as anyone else.