Alsace

This wine-growing region is located in north-east France, in some cases the region of Lorraine to the west is also included. Wine may have been grown here by the Celts (Gauls) several centuries before the arrival of the Romans in the 2nd century AD. There was a decline in the 5th century as the result of incursions by Germanic tribes, the revival took place under the influence of the Roman-Catholic monasteries. Around 160 wine-growing villages and towns are recorded here in the 9th century. In the 16th century the vineyard area reached its greatest extent, more than twice what it is today. There was already a type of Appellation Contrôlée at that time. The wine-growers association of Riquewihr specified the permitted „noble” grape varieties, and determined that the date of picking should be set „as late and as ripe as possible”. For example, vines of the Elbling variety had to be uprooted. The devastation of the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) saw the destruction of most of the vineyard sites. Thereafter there was a slow recovery, and by the middle of the 19th century the total vineyard area had grown to 30.000 hectares. Then this area too was devastated by mildew and by phylloxera. By 1950, the vineyard area had again shrunk to less than 10.000 hectares. Alsace was part of Germany for seven centuries. In 1860 it became a part of France, was then part of the German empire again from 1870 to 1918, and then again became a part of France, with the exception of a brief interruption during the Second World War. The German state of Elsass-Lothringen (Alsace-Lorraine) existed from 1871 to 1918. It is as a result of this historical development that the wine culture in Alsace is strongly characterised by German influences in terms of grape varieties and production methods, and differs significantly from that of other wine-growing regions in France.

Today the vineyard area totals around 15.000 hectares. They stretch from the foot of the Vosges mountains in a narrow band often no more than 2 kilometres wide from Strasbourg in the north, along the border with Germany for 110 kilometres, as far as Mulhouse in the south. The Rhine river forms the entire border with Germany in the east. The Vosges mountains to the west have a significant influence on the climate, as they hold off most of the rainfall that comes in from the Atlantic in the west, thus ensuring that Alsace is one of the regions in France with the lowest average rainfall. The region has cold winters, a mild spring and warm, dry summers, with actual drought experienced in some years. The area also has many different types of soil, with a huge number of variants. The Alsace region is spread over two départements. The south, which is considered to bet he better area for wine production, is the Haut-Rhin (upper Rhine), the other is the Bas-Rhin (lower Rhine) to the north. The centre of wine production can be found in a number of communes to the north and south of the town of Colmar, including the famous town of Riquewihr. This most famous of all wine-producing communes is today a national monument in its entirety. The wine route, the „Route du Vin”, stretches for 170 kilometres, touching on many of the wine-producing villages and towns in this very attractive landscape.

Alsace is white wine country, white varieties make up more than 90% of the plantings. Red wine is made primarily from Pinot Noir. The more basic wines, not classified as AC, are made from Chasselas, Goldriesling (1), Knipperlé (Ortlieber) and Müller-Thurgau. Chardonnay is permitited only for the production of sparkling wines. The style (dry to semi-sweet) is not stated on the label. Around 10% of all wines produced in Alsace are made by the huge co-operative in Eguisheim, and marketed under the „Wolfberger” brand. The wines are always bottled in the typical, slender Alsace flute bottles. There are three main designations of origin. They are the AC Alsace for varietal wines, the AC Crémant d´Alsace for sparkling wines, as well as the AC Alsace Grand Cru for the 51 Grands Crus, each of which is regarded as an own appellation. Sweet wines have had a great tradition in Alsace for many centuries. The designations Alsace Vendange Tardive (late harvest) and Alsace Sélection de Grains Nobles (from grapes with noble rot, i.e. botrytis) are additional designations, they are not appellations. They are added to the AC Alsace or Alsace Grand Cru appellations. Such wines may only be produced from Gewurztraminer, Muscat, Pinot Gris and Riesling. Small amounts of vin de paille (straw wine) and vin de glace (ice wine) are also produced. Important producers in Alsace include, for example, Marcel Deiss, Dirler-Cadé, Theo Faller, Hugel et Fils, Kuentz-Bas, Marc Kreydenweiss, Domaine Ostertag, Domaines Schlumberger, Trimbach and Zind-Humbrecht; the co-operative at Turckheim is also well-known.