The Complanted Hand & the Horse of Eguisheim
Hubert et Heidi Hausherr are among the most radical and authentic natural winemakers in Alsace — independent vignerons who, since 2000, have transformed a small family estate in the historic village of Eguisheim into a beacon of biodynamic, zero-input viticulture. Farming just shy of four hectares of vines across seven small parcels in the foothills of the Vosges Mountains, they reject tractors entirely, working the land exclusively by hand and with their draft horse, Skippy. Their philosophy is rooted in complantation — the centuries-old Alsatian tradition of planting multiple grape varieties together in the same parcel, harvesting them together, and vinifying them as field blends that express terroir rather than varietal character. Certified organic, Demeter biodynamic, and S.A.I.N.S., they use no sulphur, no additives, no filtration, and no selected yeasts. In the cellar, Hubert presses each parcel separately in hand-built vertical wooden presses with mosaic-tiled floors, fermenting the juice with indigenous yeasts in amphora and old oak barrels. The result is a range of wines that are alive, transparent, and profoundly terroir-driven — field blends of aromatic whites, ethereal reds, and orange wines that taste of the marl, sandstone, and meadows of Eguisheim.
The Cooperative & the Return to Roots
The story of Hubert et Heidi Hausherr begins in the 1920s, when the family wine house was built in Eguisheim — a medieval village of concentric circles and timbered houses, nestled in the foothills of the Vosges, just southwest of Colmar. Hubert's great-grandfather and grandfather were traditional farmers who maintained a largely self-sufficient holding with cows, chickens, pigs, grain, and vines. During the Second World War, much of Alsace's wine production was devastated, but the family land endured. In the 1960s, Hubert helped his father plant the family's vineyards on the sloped foothills behind their house, and as was customary in the old days, they planted each parcel with multiple varieties mixed together — a practice that would later define the estate's identity.
For decades, the family sold their grapes to the local cooperative, to which they had belonged since 1951. But Hubert and Heidi were not satisfied with producing anonymous technical wine from cultivated fields. In 2000, they made the bold decision to leave the cooperative and begin bottling their own wines — a return to their roots and a declaration of independence. The transition was not immediate; they began farming organically in 2006, then moved to biodynamics under the guidance of Pierre Masson, achieving Ecocert and Demeter certification. They also joined the S.A.I.N.S. association — an uncompromising commitment to wines without any additives or sulphites.
The Hausherrs' philosophy is deceptively simple: the real work is done in the vineyard. If the soil is alive, the vines are healthy, and the grapes are balanced, the cellar requires no intervention. Hubert embodies the humble, intelligent, creative artisan vigneron — a man who built his own presses, laid their mosaic floors by hand, and trusts his horse more than any machine. Heidi works alongside him, tending the vines, managing the cellar, and welcoming visitors to their tasting room. Together they have created not just a winery, but a model of permaculture agriculture — 3.75 hectares of vines interwoven with 3 hectares of meadows, biodiversity corridors, and the gentle rhythm of Skippy's hooves.
"A plant that lives healthy gives healthy fruits."
— Hubert et Heidi Hausherr
Eguisheim & the Vosges Foothills
The Hausherr estate is located in Eguisheim, a historic village classified among Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, surrounded by the sloped foothills of the Vosges Mountains. The village sits in the Haut-Rhin, the southern half of Alsace, where the climate is paradoxically warm and dry despite the northerly latitude — a microclimate created by the rain shadow of the Vosges, which blocks Atlantic weather and allows long, hot summers with often very little rain. This warmth demands careful vineyard management; the Hausherrs rely on cooling marl soils, big leafy canopies, and south-easterly aspects that provide morning sun and afternoon shade to preserve acidity and balance.
The estate comprises seven small parcels scattered across contrasting terroirs: calcareous marl (marno-calcaire), compacted sandstone (gréseux), and loess — the wind-blown silt that blankets much of Alsace. Some parcels lie within the prestigious Grand Cru Eichberg and Pfersigberg climats, though the Hausherrs rarely use these names on their labels, preferring lieu-dit or cuvée names that reflect their complanted reality. The soils are poor, well-drained, and rich in mineral complexity, forcing the vines to send roots deep into the fractured bedrock.
All vineyard work is done exclusively by hand and by horse — no tractors, no motorised machinery, no soil compaction. Skippy, their faithful draft horse, ploughs between the rows, while Hubert and Heidi tend the vines manually, pruning, training, and harvesting with meticulous care. The estate is maintained as a permaculture ecosystem: 3 hectares of meadows and wildflower corridors surround the vines, encouraging insect biodiversity, natural pest control, and soil regeneration. Treatments are limited to clay-based preparations to ward off mildew, and biodynamic preparations according to the lunar calendar. The result is a vineyard that is not merely organic, but alive — a self-sustaining organism where the vine is at home among its natural neighbours.
Eguisheim is one of the most beautiful villages in France, a concentric ring of half-timbered houses and cobbled streets arranged around a central castle. The Hausherr cellar and tasting room sit on the edge of this historic core, at 6b rue Pasteur. The village is surrounded by vineyards that climb the gentle slopes of the Vosges foothills, with the mountains rising to the west and the Alsatian plain stretching east toward the Rhine. The Hausherrs' home and winery are integrated into this landscape — the cellar is beneath their house, the vines are behind it, and the meadows extend beyond. It is a place where agriculture and history are inseparable.
The seven parcels of the estate span three distinct soil types. Calcareous marl (marno-calcaire) provides cool, mineral-rich soils that preserve acidity and lend a chalky, saline quality to the wines. Gréseux — the local compacted sandstone — is warmer and stonier, producing wines of greater aromatic intensity and a subtle, smoky mineral note. Loess, the fine wind-blown silt that covers much of the region, provides a soft, fertile topsoil that encourages vine health while the underlying rock forces root penetration. The combination of these soils across multiple parcels gives the Hausherrs a palette of mineral expressions that they blend into their complanted cuvées.
The Hausherrs are certified organic (Ecocert), biodynamic (Demeter), and members of the S.A.I.N.S. association — the most rigorous natural wine charter in France, requiring absolutely no inputs, additives, or sulphites at any stage. Biodynamic preparations are applied according to the lunar calendar, and the estate functions as a closed ecosystem: compost from the meadows, biodiversity from the hedgerows, and vitality from the soil. The refusal of tractors is not merely romantic; it is a scientific choice to avoid soil compaction and preserve the microbial life of the earth. The result is fruit of extraordinary health and balance — grapes that enter the cellar already tasting of the meadow and the mountain.
Skippy is the Hausherrs' draft horse, a living symbol of their refusal of industrial agriculture. He ploughs the vineyards, turns the soil, and maintains the rows between the vines, his hooves pressing gently where tractor tyres would compact and destroy. Alongside Skippy, Hubert and Heidi perform every task by hand: pruning, de-budding, training, leaf-plucking, and harvesting. This manual labour is not sustainable at scale, but for four hectares, it is the only way to achieve the intimacy with each vine that natural viticulture demands. The horse and the human hand are the twin engines of the Hausherr estate — slow, patient, and profoundly connected to the land.
Complantation & the Hand-Built Press
The Hausherrs' cellar philosophy is one of radical non-intervention and ancestral technique. Alsace has been a region of varietal wines since the 1940s — Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, each bottled separately and labelled by grape. But Hubert and Heidi have chosen a different path, returning to the centuries-old tradition of complantation: multiple varieties planted together in the same parcel, harvested together, pressed together, and vinified together. This practice, once universal in Alsace, was abandoned in favour of modern monoculture, but the Hausherrs believe it is the only way to produce true wines of terroir — wines that express place rather than grape.
This choice comes with a cost: complantation is not recognised by the AOC regulations, which require mono-varietal wines for appellation status. The Hausherrs therefore bottle many of their wines as Vin de France or under cuvée names rather than prestigious AOC labels. They accept this trade-off willingly, preferring authenticity to bureaucracy. In the cellar, Hubert has constructed two manual vertical wood-slat presses, each with a hand-laid mosaic tile floor — beautiful, functional artefacts that press each parcel gently and separately. The juice is then transferred to neutral oak barrels of various sizes or amphora, where it ferments spontaneously with indigenous yeasts.
No selected yeasts, no enzymes, no chaptalisation, no sulphur, and no filtration are used at any stage. Many of the wines begin as whole-bunch carbonic maceration — particularly the aromatic whites and the Pinot Noir — to achieve finesse and lifted aromatics. After pressing, the wines age on their lees until they are ready to be bottled, often with a single racking. The result is a range of wines that are cloudy, alive, and deeply expressive — whites of soaring aromatics and stony minerality; reds of pretty fruit and earthy depth; and orange wines of extraordinary texture and complexity. The Hausherr style is not about polish; it is about honesty, vitality, and the refusal to standardise.
Complantation, Native Yeasts & the Zero-Input Ethos
The guiding principle of the Hausherr cellar is that the vineyard does the work, and the winemaker's job is to listen. The biodynamic farming provides healthy, complex grapes. The hand harvest provides pristine fruit. The complantation provides a natural balance of sugars, acids, and aromatics that no single variety can achieve alone. The hand-built press provides gentle extraction that respects the integrity of the fruit. The native yeasts provide spontaneous, site-specific character. The amphora and old barrels provide a neutral, breathable home that respects the fruit without masking it. And the absolute absence of sulphur, additives, and filtration provides a wine that is naked, honest, and vibrantly alive. The cellar is not a factory; it is a continuation of the vineyard — a place where patience, ancestral technique, and the refusal to intervene translate healthy fruit into wine that is living, transparent, and unmistakably of its place.
Le Jardin Là-Haut, Les Copines des Copains & the Rouge Chamade
The Hausherr portfolio is a testament to the diversity of complanted Alsace — approximately 8 to 10 different wines per year, each expressing a specific parcel or lieu-dit through the lens of mixed varieties. The wines are named after lieu-dits where possible, or given evocative cuvée names that circumvent AOC restrictions. The range spans dry whites, off-dry whites, orange wines, sparkling pét-nats, and ethereal reds — all made with the same zero-input philosophy. Production is small; the estate bottles roughly 27,000 bottles per year, with many cuvées numbering only a few hundred cases. The wines are sought after by natural wine bars and collectors across Europe for their crystalline purity, aromatic complexity, and uncompromising authenticity.
The Permaculture Hand & the Future of Alsace
Hubert et Heidi Hausherr are not merely making wine; they are restoring a lost vision of Alsatian agriculture. In a region that has become synonymous with varietal labelling, technical precision, and industrial scale, they have proven that the oldest traditions — complantation, horse-ploughing, hand-pressing, zero sulphur — can produce the most modern and vital wines. Their refusal of the AOC system, their embrace of Vin de France status, and their commitment to S.A.I.N.S. principles have set a new standard for what natural wine in Alsace can be: not a rebellion against tradition, but a return to its deepest roots.
The legacy of the Hausherr estate is the legacy of a small farm that chose to remain human-scaled. Four hectares, one horse, two hand-built presses, and a family that works the land from dawn to dusk. They have shown that permaculture is not an abstract ideal but a practical reality — that meadows and vineyards can coexist, that biodiversity is the best pesticide, and that a plant that lives healthy gives healthy fruits. Their wines, with their evocative names and their luminous, living textures, have become icons of the natural wine world — sought after in Paris, London, Copenhagen, and New York by drinkers who understand that the best bottle is the one that needs no explanation, only a glass and an open mind.
The future is one of continuity and gentle resistance. As climate change brings new challenges to Alsace — earlier harvests, unpredictable fermentations, and the constant threat of mildew — Hubert and Heidi meet each vintage with the same patience and resourcefulness that has defined their work for two decades. They will continue to plant mixed varieties, to press by hand, to ferment with wild yeasts, and to bottle without sulphur. They will continue to welcome visitors to their cellar in Eguisheim, to share their philosophy, and to prove that the smallest estate, when farmed with the greatest care, can produce wines of extraordinary depth and truth. The story of Hubert et Heidi Hausherr is the story of a couple who looked at the modern wine world and chose the past — not out of nostalgia, but out of conviction — and who proved that the past, when lived with integrity, is always the future.
"The quality of our grapes and our juices allows us to go all the way with our idea of making wines without any inputs or sulfites."
— Hubert et Heidi Hausherr