The Bott property
A real Alsace welcome
The Bott family will be delighted to welcome you, seven days a week, in the reception and tasting area, which can accommodate up to 55 people. This innovative, modern facility includes a shop and a more private tasting area where you can sample our wines and learn how they are made.
An environmentally-friendly approach
At Bott Frères, sustainable agriculture and a respect for biodiversity have always been part of our family values. Only a terroir that is loved and respected can produce exceptional wines.
Family portraits…
BOTT, a passion passed on from father to son
Pierre Laurent BOTT
Now 88 year-old, he visits the winery twice a day where he takes great pleasure in catching up on news of our customers.
Laurent Edouard BOTT
Laurent takes meticulous care in the winery, where he vinifies the wines with Paul, passing on his skills and knowledge.
Nicole BOTT
Dynamic, audacious and determined, Nicole travels the world developing our wine sales.
Paul Pierre Gustave BOTT
Bringing a fresh approach, thanks to his international experience, Paul is meticulous at every stage of the process, applying his motto: “Quality in the vineyard, in the grapes and in the wine”.
Our heritage
Philippe Louis BOTT (1800-1855)
The property was etablished by Philippe Louis BOTT (1800-1855), the son of a brewer and an impassioned winegrower. He began making wines in 1835, while continuing his bewery activity, as his forefathers had done before him. The BOTT vineyard and brewery was located at that time in the hills above Ribeauvillé.
Unpredictable weather
Unpredict-able weather did not allow the consistent production of high quality wines in Alsace, with the exception of Ribeauvillé, whose winegrowers established an excellent reputation for the region.Frédéric Laurent BOTT
Frédéric Laurent BOTT (1831-1888) followed in the footsteps of his father Philippe Louis.Wine sales were increasing but the phylloxera epidemic obliged him to develop the brewery side of the family business.
Frédéric Laurent BOTT
From 1880, Frédéric Laurent BOTT replanted the vines using American rootstock, and the growth of wine sales was re-established.Sales were mainly at the local level, in Germany (Alsace was German from 1871) and in Switzerland, where the wines of Ribeauvillé-Riquewihr were considered to be the best in the region.
Bott Frères
Paul David Gaston BOTT (1863-1932) and his brother Adolphe Frédérique Laurent BOTT (1860-1918), took charge of the property and abandoned the brewery business, devoting themselves entirely to winegrowing.Their collaboration marked the birth of “Bott Frères” as a trading name.
The popularity of BOTT FRERES wines grew from year to year.
In 1898, the family had to move because they needed larger cellars.
Intuitive and visionary, Paul David Gaston BOTT decided to build a winery outside the town, in the middle of the vines and the fields, where, 55 years later, the Alsace wine road would pass. The property was built with stones from the Château de Zellenberg that belonged to the Bott family.
The start of the 20th century brought poor weather and mildew (a fungus that attacked fruit trees).
The Bott brothers decided to distil their own grape brandies and other fruit brandies, to enable the family business to survive.The extended period of bad weather damaged the reputation of the wines of Ribeauvillé and Riquewihr: to remedy this, the BOTT brothers and other producers developed a sparkling wine known as crémant.
During the First World War, like most of the inhabitants and businesses in Ribeauvillé, the Frères Bott provided accommodation for soldiers.The main house was occupied by troops from 1914 to 1918.
In 1918, Alsace became French again, and the market evolved.Customers no longer came to buy wine directly at the property, and other marketing and distribution techniques had to be developed.
New customers and other importing countries had to be found.
The two brothers launched a river-based export trade, mainly to the Scandinavian countries, from the port of Illhaeusern.
Pierre Bott's account (1928) :
“We were the first winery to be visited by the Americans, as Fielding D. Tucker recounts in his memoirs.The Americans were lodged in the buildings at the back of the yard, where they had a canteen that fed the troops in the Poche de Colmar.
The property was also used as a repair station for vehicles damaged in the fighting; they had a substantial store of spare parts that was left behind when the troops left in February 1945.
The American soldiers also wanted to set up billets between the barrels on mattresses and beds that we were glad to provide.
That was when I discovered chocolate, ketchup and chewing gum. As for us, after their arrival, we slept under the casks.”
Pierre BOTT developped direct sales to wine merchants, restaurants and export (Germany and Switzerland). He regularly delivered wines himself to bordering countries.
His work in the defence of the interests of winegrowers was recognized in 1978 when he was made a Knight of the French Order of Agricultural Merit and an Officer of the Ordre of Agricultural Merit on 21 January 1985.
Now 88 years-old, Pierre BOTT visits the winery twice a day, where he takes great pleasure in keeping up with news of our customers. He also participates in the vinification process, during which his comments and advice are much appreciated by Laurent and Paul.Having completed his studies at the Viticultural Lycée in Beaune, Laurent BOTT began working at the property in 1978.He increased wine production and invested in modern winery, that included facilities for wine tourism.
A keen gourmet, with a gift for befriending new customers, Laurent BOTT developed restaurant sales, with the result that Bott Frères wines are served on some of France’s finest tables.
Nicole Bott married Laurent in 1983, who passed on to her his passion and knowledge of winegrowing. She soon came to be known as a representative of the property.Ambitious, audacious and determined, Nicole travels the world developing sales. BOTT wines are currently available in more than 29 countries.
A perfectionist, but always open to new ideas, Nicole is a powerful force on all fronts!
Strongly committed to promoting Alsace wines, she is a member of the CIVA committee, and was named “Madame Wine Tourism” of 2016.
She was also made a Knight of the National Order of Agricultural Merit in 2015.
Paul BOTT was fascinated by winegrowing from an early age. Having completed his studies at the Agricultural Lycée in Rouffach, he went to New Zealand to work in a winery from 2008 to 2009.
Returning from his travels, Paul BOTT decided to join the family business and develop the crémants (sparkling wines).
Extremely rigorous in his approach in both the vineyard and the winery, Paul has a simple motto: quality in the vineyard, in the grapes and in the wine!
Some examples of the property’s first labels…