Domaine Achillée’s story began in 1990, when Yves Dietrich took over 4 hectares of the family estate in Scherwiller, in the heart of the Alsace wine route. From the beginning, his work was guided by a deep respect for the living vineyard. The estate was converted to organic farming by 1999, then to biodynamics in 2003, making the Dietrich family one of the early voices of a more ecological approach in Alsace.

In 2016, Yves’ sons, Pierre and Jean, launched their own winery in partnership with their father, giving the family’s fruit a new identity under the Achillée label. That same year, they built one of the estate’s most remarkable symbols: a large self-supporting straw-bale cellar, designed as a bioclimatic building from local and environmentally conscious materials. It is not just an architectural statement, but an extension of the domaine’s philosophy: low-impact, thoughtful and deeply connected to place.

Today, the estate covers around 25 hectares, making it one of the larger biodynamic domaines in Alsace. The Dietrich family sees the vineyard as a complete ecosystem, where soil, vine, grower, plants, insects and climate all interact. Synthetic inputs are avoided, and the focus is on building life from the roots up: healthy soils, balanced vines and fruit that can carry the identity of its origin into the bottle.

Their vineyards are spread across a rich mosaic of Alsatian terroirs. Sandy-gravel molasse from ancient glacial activity, clay soils around Blienschwiller and Dambach-la-Ville, granite in Frankstein and Rittersberg, and schist in Schieferberg all bring different textures, tensions and aromatic profiles. This diversity allows classic Alsatian varieties such as Sylvaner, Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc to show their many faces.

In the cellar, the approach is gentle and restrained. Fermentations are spontaneous, with minimal additions and a clear desire to preserve the voice of each parcel and vintage. The wines can be dry, aromatic, textured, sparkling or skin-contact, but they always carry the same thread: purity, vitality and a sense of place.

Alongside Domaine Achillée, where the wines are made from the family’s own biodynamically farmed vineyards, Pierre and Jean also created a second line called Pépin. This is their négociant project, built around grapes purchased from friends and trusted growers who work organically and share a similar respect for the land. Pépin gives them more freedom to play: the wines are usually lighter, more immediate and more experimental in spirit, with a distinct label world that clearly separates them from the domaine bottlings. If Achillée is the deeper expression of their own soils, Pépin is the joyful, collaborative side of the project.