 |
| Close up view of Alsace, France |
Alsace, France is a wine region with quite a long
history. It borders Germany along the
Rhine
river, France’s eastern boundary. It started off as a land of nomads and was
soon taken over by
the Romans in 58 BC.
The Romans declared it a center for viticulture and that is where its
winemaking history begins. During the Middle Ages, Alsace was traded
between many different
nobles. In
the early 800s, it fell under the rule Middle Francia and by the late 800s, it
was under
the Kingdom of Germany. Then the Holy Roman Empire took control for
900 years and the
Kingdom of France took the region back. It went back and forth between France and
Germany
for a while until the end of World War II when Nazi
Germany fell. France has had control of
Alsace ever since.
It was not until 1975 that the INAO recognized Alsace as a Grand Cru AOC
region because even though France had taken the
region back, German or local law was in effect
for some time afterward.
 |
| France highlighted on the world map. |
 |
| Alsace highlighted within France |
Alsace is divided into two regions, Bas-Rhin and
Haut-Rhine which are north and south
respectively.
They both grow grapes on the lower slopes that face east towards
Germany. Both
sub-regions go by the same classification system and
produce very similar wines.
 |
| The slopes of Alsace, France |
There are four different classes in Alsace which are
Alsace Grand Cru AOC, Alsace AOC,
Cremant d’Alsace AOC and Vin de Table. Almost all wines from the region are AOC
wines and
 |
| Vineyards of Alsace, France |
there are no Vin de Pays in Alsace. This means that if it is not an AOC wine,
then it must be a Vin de Table which cannot include the grape variety,
region of origin or vintage on the label. Cremant d’Alsace AOC means that it is a sparkling
wine. Alsace AOC can be a red, white or rose wine and they have very few restrictions
compared to Alsace Grand Cru AOC. Alsace Grand Cru AOC includes 55 vineyards out of the 120
in the region. In order to include this
label, the winery must only produce single noble varieties. The four noble grapes are Riesling, Muscat, Gewarztraminer and Pinot Gris. Varietals that are named after grapes is
unheard of in France expect for in this region. The vineyard must be at an altitude between
200m and 300m and the yield must be 65 hectoliter per hectare or
less. It must be a single named vineyard
of Grand Cru status and the vineyard’s name must be on
the bottle.
Any wine produced in Alsace must be in tall bottles
called flutes d’Alsace and this is a legal requirement.
Late harvest classifications include Vendage Tardive and Selection de
Grains Nobles. Vendage
Tardive is used in making dessert wines where the grapes stay on the vine until they dehydrate. Selection de Grains Nobles is also used for dessert wines, but it
depends
upon the grapes being affected by noble rot. Alsace was the first to coin the term Selection
de Grains Nobles and it did not have a legal definition
until 1984.
 |
| Bottles of wine from Domaine Emile Beyer |
As you might have guessed, 90% of the wine produced
in Alsace is white. The two biggest
being Riesling and Gewurtz. 23% of the white wines made in Alsace are
Riesling, followed
closely behind by Gewurtz with 18%. Alsace is known for its dry white wines as
that is what s
separates is from German white wines. Some wineries
are starting to experiment with leaving
some residual sugar in their wines, but it may be a
while until they can be mass produced due to
the strict wine laws in France. They are trying this with Pinot Gris and
Gewurtzraminer, so it
will be interesting to see what becomes of it.
 |
| Vineyard in Alsace, France with a glass of white wine |
Alsace has a very interesting climate for
viticulture and this of course affects the wines produced.
The soil is a mix of block, pebble, gravel, sand,
silt and clay. The sand helps with
drainage, clay
with providing nutrients and the rest of the mixture
helps sustain the life of microorganisms
which are needed for reactions such as producing
Nitrogen in a form where the plant can use it.
The total rainfall per year is around 680 mm and the
daily average is 7.5 mm. Alsace’s dry
days
just about equal how many wet days they have. In the summer, the hottest it gets is 80°F
and in
the winter, the coldest it gets is about 30°F. These are pretty stable temperatures compared
to
what we deal with here in Virginia. In order to get the most sunlight, vineyards
should be
between a 30° and 60° inclination facing South-East
to South. Alsace has several valleys
which
is where many vineyards are planted. The highest point is Grand Ballon in
Haut-Rhin and it is 1426m. Alsace
is only 8238 km2 and is the fifth smallest region of France’s 27
regions.
Alsace wines tend to be very aromatic wines with
aromas of floral and spice. They rarely see
 |
| Bottel label from Hugel & Fils |
any time in the barrel as most of them are dry,
white wines. However, Alsace produces 8%
of its red wines from Pinot Noir. These wines are rarely exported as most are
consumed in the region. Some of the largest wine producers are Maison Trimbach, Domaine Zind-Humbrecht, Hugel & Fils, Leon Beyer, Weinbach, Josmeyer and Marcel Deiss. If the label includes “Domaine”, then all the grapes are supposed to be
from their vineyard. Many of these
larger producers not only sell their own wine but also wine
produced from bought grapes. This seemed
a little odd since from my understanding, if a
vineyard is large enough then they don’t need to use bought grapes. If one takes a moment to think
about the regulations of only producing so many hectoliters perhectare then their dilemma starts
to make sense. Only 35% of Alsace wines
are AOC designated, so most vineyards do not have to
abide by these standards.
 |
| Bottles from Maison Trimbach
Alsace, like many wine regions in France and across Europe is caught somewhere in between sticking to its famous laws and rules while keeping up with the new world. Alsace starting to keep some residual sugar in some of its wine is a big deal. I think this will become a great center for innovation of white wines if France loosens its laws surrounding their wines.
|
Sources:
.png)
