Wine region
Alsace
Alsace: about 15,500 hectares at the foot of the Vosges, Riesling, Gewürztraminer and Pinot Gris, 51 grands crus, dry wines, crémant and sweet wines.
- Vineyard area
- about 15,500 hectares, 51 grands crus
- Main grapes
- Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, Muscat; then Pinot Blanc, Auxerrois, Silvaner and Pinot Noir
- Climate and soils
- dry and sunny in the rain shadow of the Vosges; granite, sandstone, limestone, marl, loess
- Signature wines
- Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, Crémant d’Alsace, Vendanges Tardives
- Landmark
- the Route des Vins, with wine villages such as Riquewihr, Eguisheim and Ribeauvillé
Alsace is France’s easternmost wine region: about 15,500 hectares on the hills at the foot of the Vosges, with the Rhine as the border with Germany to the east and Switzerland beginning to the south, near Basel. The Vosges stop the rain clouds coming from the west; with only about 500 to 650 millimetres of rain a year the region is among the driest in France, and warm, sunny summers followed by long autumns let the grapes ripen slowly. The geology is of rare variety: granite, sandstone, limestone, marl and loess often lie only a few metres apart.
Unlike the rest of France, Alsace has traditionally put the grape variety on the label. Seven varieties shape the appellation: Riesling, which covers about a fifth of the vineyard, then Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, Muscat, Pinot Blanc with Auxerrois, Silvaner and, the only red, Pinot Noir. Riesling usually gives a dry, taut, mineral white, Pinot Gris a full, round wine with smoky and honeyed notes, Gewürztraminer an opulent one with rose, lychee and spice. Until 2007 Pinot Gris was labelled “Tokay Pinot Gris”; the word “Tokay” was then dropped to avoid confusion with Hungarian Tokaj.
The appellations are clearly ordered: Alsace AOC (since 1962) for the bulk, Crémant d’Alsace (since 1976), which accounts for about a quarter of production, and Alsace Grand Cru for 51 named sites, which together supply nearly 5 per cent. On a grand cru label only the four noble varieties, Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris and Muscat, are allowed, with the exception of Silvaner at Zotzenberg. The same four varieties may carry the sweet wines: “Vendanges Tardives”, from overripe grapes, and “Sélection de Grains Nobles”, from botrytised grapes, both regulated since 1984. The slender bottle, the flûte d’Alsace, is typical.
Alsace wine goes with the cooking of the region: tarte flambée and choucroute garnie with a Riesling or a Pinot Blanc, Munster cheese with a Gewürztraminer, foie gras with a Pinot Gris or a late-harvest wine, fish and seafood with a dry Riesling. The Swiss link is obvious: Pinot Gris is called Malvoisie in Valais, where it too is made dry or as a sweet flétri, and Riesling lovers will find the German neighbours in Baden and the Pfalz, just across the border.