The wine region Alsace is located in the northeastern part of France, touching the German border. The German influences are very noticeable, both on an architectural and culinary level. There is a lot of overlap in terms of planted grape varieties and the use of the long-necked bottle we see in Germany as well.
The Alsace is located between the eastern part of the Vosges mountain range and the river of the Rhine. This ensures a continental climate with sunny warm summers, perfect to grow grapes.
The most uses grape varieties are white, with Riesling, Pinot Gris, Muscat, and Gewürztraminer being considered as the noble grapes. These are the only ones eligible to produce Grand Cru wines. Apart from those we see that the grapes Sylvaner, Auxerrois Blanc, Chardonnay and Chasselas are allowed as well. However, Chasselas cannot be newly planted anymore, which means that this grape will be eliminated from the appellation in a few decades.
Only one red grape is allowed, the Pinot Noir.
The two subregions in the Alsace are the Bas-Rhin in the north and the Haut-Rhin in the south. Rhin referring to the river Rhine. Usually, the better-quality wines are coming from the Haut-Rhin.
The wines are mostly made from only one grape variety, they are all monocepages. Alsace is the only region in France where it is allowed to mention the name of the grape on the bottle, under the appellation.
The soil differs a lot from one kilometer to the other, but will usually contain limestone, slate, sand, and clay.
For the appellation the Alsace wines will refer to the grape variety and not to the village of origin, like in the rest of France. Only the Grand Cru will have an extra referral.
The AOP Alsace is the base appellation for all the wines from the region. Every wine made from a different grape, other than the noble ones, will fall under this category.
The AOP Alsace Grand Cru however is made from either Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris or Muscat. The village of origin will be mentioned as well.
AOP Crémant d’Alsace is the appellation for the sparkling wines made in Alsace. It follows the Méthode Traditionelle (like in Champagne) with a minimum aging of 9 months on the lees. All the grapes allowed under the base appellation are allowed for the Crémant. We used to see a lot of Riesling, Pinot Blanc, and Pinot Gris for sparkling, but lately a lot of Chardonnay is used, sometimes only Chardonnay. This is still very different than the Blanc de Blancs coming from Champagne, with more spicy notes to it. For the Rosé Crémant, Pinot Noir will be used.
The pleasant Indian summers in the area, clears the way to produce high-quality sweet wines, with two protected categories. The Vendage Tardive refers to late harvest. When applying this the grape will produce more sugar than acidity and leave residual sugar in the wine. The grapes for this have to be the same ones as for the Grand Cru.
Apart from that we also have the category of Selection de Grains Nobles, which are grapes affected by the noble rot. These sugar levels will be much higher than Vendage Tardive. Also, only the Grand Cru grapes are allowed.
When travelling in the Alsace, make sure to eat the local famous dishes, such as Munster cheese, Flammekuchen and Choucroute. These dishes will pair very well with the local wines, thinking of an herbaceous Gewurztraminer with the Munster, Selection de Grains Noble with the Flammekuchen and an expressive Riesling with the Sauerkraut.
Alsace is a beautiful area that has said to be the inspiration of many fairytale stories, such as Beauty and the Beast. Cozy German like villages known for the production of expressive white wines!
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