Alsace (wine)
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Alsace wine or Alsatian wine (; ; ; ) is produced in the
Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...
region in
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and is primarily
white wine White wine is a wine that is Fermentation in winemaking, fermented without undergoing the process of Maceration (wine), maceration, which involves prolonged contact between the juice with the grape skins, seeds, and pulp. The wine color, colou ...
. Because of its Germanic influence, it is the only ''
Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée In France, the ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (, ; abbr. AOC ) is a label that identifies an agricultural product whose stages of production and processing are carried out in a defined geographical area – the ''terroir'' – and using ...
'' region in France to produce mostly varietal wines, typically from similar grape varieties to those used in German wine. Along with
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and Germany, it produces some of the most noted dry
Riesling Riesling ( , ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling ...
s in the world as well as highly aromatic
Gewürztraminer Gewürztraminer () is an aromatic wine grape variety, used in white wines, and which performs best in cooler climates. In English, it is sometimes referred to colloquially as Gewürz ( ; although this is never the case in German, because mean ...
wines. Wines are produced under three different AOCs: Alsace AOC for white, rosé and
red wine Red wine is a type of wine made from dark-colored grape varieties - (red grapes.) The color of the wine can range from intense violet, typical of young wines, through to brick red for mature wines and brown for older red wines. The juice fro ...
s,
Alsace Grand Cru AOC Alsace Grand Cru () is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée for wines made in specific parcels of the Alsace wine region of France. The Grand Cru AOC was recognized in 1975 by the Institut National des Appellations d'Origine, INAO with subsequent ...
for white wines from certain classified vineyards and Crémant d'Alsace AOC for
sparkling wine Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it, making it fizzy. While it is common to refer to this as champagne, European Union countries legally reserve that word for products exclusively produced in the Champagne ( ...
s. Both dry and sweet white wines are produced. In 2006, vines were grown on 15,298
hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...
s (37,800
acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...
s) in 119 villages in Alsace, and 111.3 million litres of wine was produced, corresponding to 148.4 million bottles of 750 mL, generating 478.8 million euro in revenue. Of the vineyard surface, 78% was classified for the production of AOC Alsace wines, 4% for AOC Alsace Grand Cru, and 18% for AOC Crémant d'Alsace.CIVA website
read on September 9, 2007
About 90% of the wine produced is white. 25% of the production is exported, and the five largest export markets for still Alsace wine in terms of volume are
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,
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,
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,
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and the
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.


History

An important influence in the history of Alsace wine has been the repeated changes of nationality of the Alsace region, which has passed from France to Germany and vice versa several times throughout history. In the early history of the Alsace wine industry, they were traded together with other German wines since Rhine provided the means to transport the wines. In much of the post–
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
era, wine styles in Alsace and Germany diverged, as Alsace wines remained fully fermented, that is dry, to a large extent because they were intended to be paired with food. In the same era, Alsace has also experienced a drive to higher quality, which led to AOC status being awarded. In recent decades, the difference between Alsace and Germany has diminished, since German wines have become drier and more powerful, while many Alsace wines have become sweeter and the late harvest and dessert style wines have been "rediscovered" in Alsace since the VT and SGN designations were introduced in 1983. The total vineyard surface in Alsace has increased over the last decades, although the total French vineyard surface has decreased. In 1967, there were of Alsace vineyards, in 1982, , and in 2007, . Over the same period of time, among the varieties, Pinot gris has increased the most, from 4% to 15% of the vineyard surface, while Sylvaner has decreased the most.


Use of the name "Tokay" in Alsace

The grape variety Pinot gris is believed to have been taken to
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
in the 14th century, where it was named Szürkebarát. It is further believed to have been brought back to Alsace by General Lazarus von Schwendi after his campaign against the Turks in the 16th century. It was planted in Kientzheim under the name "Tokay", taken from Hungary's most famous wine Tokaji, which does not use Pinot gris, but rather Furmint and Hárslevelű mainly. For a long time, the Alsatian wines produced from this variety were labelled Tokay d'Alsace. However, in 1993, an agreement was reached between Hungary and the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
(of which Hungary was not yet a member) to phase out the name Tokay from non- Hungarian wine. In the case of Alsace, the name Tokay Pinot gris was used as an intermediate step, with the "Tokay" part eliminated in 2007.


Geography, geology and terroir

The geography of the wine growing area in Alsace is determined by two main factors, the Vosges mountains in the west and the
Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
river in the east. The vineyards are concentrated in a narrow strip, running in a roughly north–south direction, on the lower eastern slopes of the Vosges, at altitudes of . Those altitudes provide a good balance between temperature, drainage and sun exposure under Alsace's growing conditions. Because of predominantly westerly winds, the Vosges mountains tend to shelter Alsace from rain and maritime influence, and the region is therefore rather dry and sunny. The city of
Colmar Colmar (; ; or ) is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Alsace region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is the seat of the prefecture of the Haut-Rhin department ...
in the
Haut-Rhin Haut-Rhin (); Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or '; , . is a department in the Grand Est region, France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine; its name means Upper Rhine. Haut-Rhin is the smaller and less pop ...
department of Alsace receives approximately of precipitation a year on average, but the amount can vary greatly between sites. While the slope down the Vosges is generally east-facing, many of the best sites are south-west to south-east facing, and benefit from extra sun exposure. Alsace's geology is quite varied, with many different kinds of soils represented in the vineyards. Alsace's soils are a result of its location at a geological fault. Alsace as a whole is located on the western part of the Rhine Graben, which is the result of two systems of parallel faults, with a dropped down block between the Vosges and the
Black Forest The Black Forest ( ) is a large forested mountain range in the States of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is th ...
.


Wine styles

Almost all wines are white, except those made from the
Pinot noir Pinot noir (), also known as Pinot nero, is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name also refers to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words fo ...
grape which are pale red, often
rosé A rosé () is a type of wine that incorporates some of the wine color, color from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. It may be the oldest known type of wine, as it is the most straightforward to make with the Macerati ...
, rarely red (e.g.
Rouge d'Ottrott Rouge d'Ottrott is a Pinot Noir red wine produced in the commune of Ottrott, in the Bas-Rhin. It is a geographical denomination within the registered designation of origin Alsace AOC, which mainly produces white wines. It is recommended drunk at ...
).
Sparkling wine Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it, making it fizzy. While it is common to refer to this as champagne, European Union countries legally reserve that word for products exclusively produced in the Champagne ( ...
s known as Crémant d'Alsace are also made. Much of the white wines of Alsace are made from aromatic grape varieties, so many characteristic Alsace wines are aromatic, floral and spicy. Since they very seldom have any oak barrel aromas they tend to be very varietally pure in their character. Traditionally all Alsace wines were dry (which once set them apart from German wines with which they share many grape varieties), but an ambition to produce wines with more intense and fruity character has led some producers to produce wines which contain some residual sugar. Since until 2020 there was no official labeling that differentiated completely dry from off-dry (or even semi-sweet) wines, this occasionally led to some confusion among consumers. It is more common to find residual sugar in Gewürztraminer and Pinot gris, which reach a higher natural sugar content on ripeness, than in Riesling, Muscat or Sylvaner. Usually there is a "house style" as to residual sugar, i.e., some producers only produce totally dry wines, except for their dessert style wines. Almost all production in Alsace is of AOC wine, since there is no '' Vin de pays'' region which covers Alsace. Thus, the only alternative to producing AOC wine is to declassify it all the way down to '' Vin de table'', which generally means that neither grape varieties, region of origin or vintage may be identified. However, this solution is mostly avoided since ''edelzwicker'' and ''gentil'' may be blended from several varieties, i.e. varieties that exceed the AOC rules in the concerned season.


Bottles

There is a legal requirement for bottling Alsace wine in tall bottles commonly called '. In the AOC rules, the bottle type is actually called ''vin du Rhin'', i.e., "Rhine wine bottle". Without being mandated by law, this bottle format is also common and traditional in many German regions, particularly for Riesling and other traditional white wine varieties.


Late harvest wines

There are two late harvest classifications, Vendange Tardive (VT) and Sélection de Grains Nobles (SGN). ''Vendange Tardive'' means "late harvest" (which in German would be '' Spätlese''), but in terms of must weight requirements, VT is similar to Auslese in Germany. ''Sélection de Grains Nobles'' means "selection of noble berries", i.e. grapes affected by noble rot, and is similar to a German Beerenauslese. For both VT and SGN, Alsace wines tend to be higher in alcohol and therefore slightly lower in sugar than the corresponding German wines. Therefore, Riesling VT and Muscat VT tend to be semi-sweet rather than sweet, while Gewürztraminer and Pinot gris tend to be rather sweet already at VT level. But as is the case with sweetness in other Alsace wines, this depends to a large extent on the house style of the producer. The required level of ripeness of the grapes, which was increased in 2001, are as follows, expressed as sugar content of the must and potential alcohol: The producer Aimé Stentz produces a late harvest Pinot blanc known as ''Pi-Noblesse'', which is ineligible for either VT or SGN labelling. The minimum required must weights have again been increased to the following: VT: Riesling, Muscat, Muscat Ottonel: 235 g/L (formerly 220 g/L); Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer: 257 g/L (formerly 243 g/L) SGN: Riesling, Muscat, Muscat Ottonel: 276 g/L (formerly 256 g/L); Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer: 306 g/L (formerly 279 g/L)


Grape varieties

Over the last decades, plantings of Riesling, Pinot noir and in particular Pinot gris have increased, while Sylvaner (once the most grown variety) and Chasselas have been on the decrease.


Varietal labels and similar designations

Alsace is known for being the only French wine-growing region with a long practice in varietal labeling, which was a German tradition long before varietally labelled
New world The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...
wines scored considerable export success. However, under appellation rules, not all varietal-sounding names on labels need to correspond to a single grape variety. Only one varietal label may be used on a wine, and a blend may not have more than one varietal name on the label.


Non-AOC wines

Almost all Alsace wine is produced under one of the region's three AOC designations—Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru and Crémant d'Alsace. Unlike most other French wine regions, there exists no '' Vin de pays'' designation for Alsace. This means that wines that do not qualify for AOC status have to be sold as simple '' Vin de table de France''. This happens in some instances when producers wish to use other grape varieties in their wine, like Domaine Zind-Humbrecht which sells its ''cuvée Zind'', a blend of 65% Chardonnay and 35% Auxerrois.Oenoalsace: Information by Zind-Humbrecht about wines from the 2005 vintage
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Industry structure

Up to 2,000 growers bottle their own wine, but more than 80% of the wine is produced by 175 producers, including many winemaking cooperatives. Even the largest winemaking companies/négociants in Alsace tend to be family-owned. In 2001, approximately 45% of Alsace wine was made by cooperatives.


Producers

Some of the best known producers include Maison Trimbach, Domaine Zind-Humbrecht, Hugel & Fils, Léon Beyer, Weinbach, Josmeyer and Marcel Deiss. Many of the larger houses, such as Hugel, sell both wines from their own vineyards and market wines they have produced from purchased grapes, i.e., operate as négociant. Producers calling themselves "Domaine", such as Zind-Humbrecht, are supposed to only use grapes from their own vineyards. There are also several winemaking cooperatives, some of which have a rather good reputation.


Route des Vins d'Alsace

The ''Route des Vins d'Alsace'' ( Wine route of Alsace) is an approximately road, crossing the main wine producing areas of the region. From north to south, the following 67 communes crossed by the ''Route'' are: * Marlenheim * Wangen * Westhoffen * Traenheim * Bergbieten * Dangolsheim * Soultz-les-Bains * Avolsheim * Molsheim * Rosheim * Boersch * Ottrott *
Obernai Obernai (Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Owernah''; ) is Communes of France, commune in the Bas-Rhin Departments of France, department in Alsace in north-eastern France. It lies on the eastern slopes of the Vosges mountains. Obernai is a rapidly g ...
* Bernardswiller * Heiligenstein * Barr * Mittelbergheim * Andlau * Itterswiller * Nothalten * Blienschwiller * Dambach-la-Ville * Scherwiller * Châtenois * Kintzheim * Orschwiller * Saint-Hippolyte * Rodern * Rorschwihr * Bergheim * Ribeauvillé *
Hunawihr Hunawihr (; ) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. The village is a member of the ''Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (, ) is an independent association created in 1982 for the promotion of the t ...
* Zellenberg * Riquewihr * Beblenheim * Mittelwihr * Bennwihr * Sigolsheim * Kientzheim * Kaysersberg *
Ammerschwihr Ammerschwihr (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Haut-Rhin Departments of France, department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Ammerschwihriens''. Geography Ammerschwihr is a small town located on the W ...
* Ingersheim * Niedermorschwihr * Turckheim *
Colmar Colmar (; ; or ) is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Alsace region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is the seat of the prefecture of the Haut-Rhin department ...
* Wintzenheim * Wettolsheim * Eguisheim * Husseren-les-Châteaux * Voegtlinshoffen * Obermorschwihr * Hattstatt * Gueberschwihr * Pfaffenheim * Rouffach * Westhalten * Soultzmatt * Orschwihr * Bergholtz *
Guebwiller Guebwiller (; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Gàwiller'' ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Haut-Rhin Departments of France, département in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It was a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the de ...
* Soultz * Wuenheim * Cernay * Vieux-Thann * Thann


References


External links


The Official Alsace wines home page
(CIVA)
The wines of Alsace
€”The official website of France (in English)
Wines, villages and terroirs of Alsace
{{Portal bar, Wine, France