Alsace Grand Cru is the appellation for the best still white wines in the Alsace region of northeastern France. Created in 1983, the appellation is based on a classification of the region's Vineyards made in 1975 and has been subject to several subsequent revisions. An Alsace Grand Cru wine is - almost without exception - produced from a single Grape variety. This will be indicated on the label, along with the name of the vineyard where the grapes were grown.
The grape varieties permitted under the appellation laws are Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris and Muscat. A small number of exceptions to this rule have emerged in recent years - the result of vigorous lobbying by local producers. The vineyards of Altenberg de Bergheim, Kaefferkopf and Zotzenberg are allowed to produce blended wines, each with its own permitted varieties and relative proportions. The promotion of Kaefferkopf to Grand Cru status and the delimitation of the appellation caused a controversy that made headlines in France.
Pinot Blanc is a grape variety that originated in Burgundy, mutated from Pinot Gris. Today, it is grown in Alsace where it is called klevner when blended with auxerrois. The continental climate, with its cold winters and hot summers, is particularly suited to pinot blanc. It is resistant to frost in winter and in summer, the roots draw the minerals it needs from the warm soil. Its bunches are made up of small berries with thick skins and melting pulp that produce fruity, spicy wines, balanced between acidity and alcohol. pinot blanc is also used for crémants and sparkling wines. Pinot Blanc is also used for Crémant and sparkling wines. It is widely grown in Italy, where it covers almost 7,000 hectares, and is also found in Germany, Austria, Canada and South Africa.
wines from the region of Alsace Grand Cru go well with generally quite well with dishes of pork, rich fish (salmon, tuna etc) or spicy food such as recipes of capellini with prosciutto, skate wings with capers or chicken with rice and curry cream.
On the nose in the region of Alsace Grand Cru often reveals types of flavors of grapefruit, raspberry or slate and sometimes also flavors of baked apple, cinnamon or toffee. In the mouth in the region of Alsace Grand Cru is a powerful with a nice freshness.
André Hugel was an 11th generation member of Famille Hugel, one of the region’s most influential and highly-regarded wine families. The Hugel family settled in the town of Riquewihr, located in the heart of Alsace, all the way back in 1639. André ran Famille Hugel along with his brothers, Jean and Georges, as it developed into one of the world’s top producers. It owns 30 hectares (ha) of prime plots in the Haut-Rhin area, half of which are classified as Grand Cru, and it buys grapes from a furth ...
How’s the weather been this year? Awful. ‘La nature m’écoeure’, one of my wine-growing friends posted on Facebook on 8 April, having been out to look at the frost-crippled shoots on his vines that morning: ‘Nature disgusts me’. It takes a lot to make a wine-grower feel that. He wasn’t alone. Jeremiads echo around the northern hemisphere as 2021 closes. It’s been the year of all the miseries. None suffered more horribly than the growers of Germany’s Ahr valley, where floodwaters caused by the fou ...
France’s 2022 wine harvest is likely to be between 42.6 million and 45.6m hectolitres, up by 13% to 21% on the frost-hit 2021 vintage and more in-line with the country’s five-year average. One hectolitre is equivalent to 100 litres. Yet drought could impact on yields in the coming weeks, adding extra uncertainty in several regions, said the French agriculture ministry’s Agreste statistics unit. Expected vintage quality isn’t covered by the preliminary outlook. It added the 2022 growing season is ...
