Alsace Grand Cru AOC
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Alsace Grand Cru () is an
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 ...
for
wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...
s made in specific parcels of the Alsace wine region of
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 ...
. The Grand Cru AOC was recognized in 1975 by the INAO with subsequent expansion in 1983, 1992 and 2007.INAO: AOC Alsace Grand Cru regulations, updated until September 28, 2007
, retrieved 2011-04-22.
The wines come from selected sites in the
Alsace AOC Alsace wine or Alsatian wine (; ; ; ) is produced in the Alsace region in France and is primarily white wine. Because of its Germanic influence, it is the only ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'' region in France to produce mostly varietal w ...
region,INAO: AOC Alsace regulations, updated until January 14, 2007
, retrieved 2011-04-19
located at altitudes between 200 m and 300 m. To qualify for Grand Cru status, a wine must first meet the ''Alsace AOC'' rules and then other strict requirements. For example, the yield of the vineyards has to be 55 hectoliters per
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. ...
or less, the wine has to come from a single named vineyard (called a ''
lieu-dit ''Lieu-dit'' (; plural: ''lieux-dits'') (literally ''location-said'', "named place") is a French language, French toponymic term for a small geographical area bearing a traditional name. The name usually refers to some characteristic of the plac ...
'' in Alsace) of Grand Cru status, and the name of the vineyard must be on the label. As of 2018, 51 ''lieux-dits'' are listed as Grand Cru, the latest addition being Kaefferkopf of Ammerschwihr in January 2007.CIVA English-language press announcement on February 6, 2007: A 51st named vineyard is awarded the AOC Alsace Grand Cru status
/ref>


History


Middle Age

In Alsace, the concept of cru vineyards came very early. In 613, the king-to-be
Dagobert Dagobert or Taginbert is a Germanic male given name, possibly from Old Frankish ''Dag'' "day" and '' beraht'' "bright". Alternatively, it has been identified as Gaulish ''dago'' "good" ''berxto'' "bright". Animals * Roi Dagobert (born 1964), ...
gave vines on the ''Steinklotz'' to the abbey of Haslach. In Rouffach in 762, Heddo,
Archbishop of Strasbourg Archbishops

*Charles Amarin Brand (16 July 1984 – 23 October 1997) (with rank of archbishop from 1988) *Joseph Doré (23 October 1997 – 25 August 2006) *Jean-Pierre Grallet (21 April 2007 – 18 February 2017) *Luc Ravel (18 February 2017 ...
, founded the abbey of
Ettenheim Ettenheim () is a city in the Ortenaukreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History Ettenheim was founded in the 8th century by Eddo, bishop of Strasbourg, and the was founded at about that time. Ettenheim received German town law, town rights in ...
and made his income from the vines of the ''Vorbourg''. In Bennwihr in 777, the missi dominici passing through Alsace reported favorably to
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...
on the quality of ''Beno Villare'' ("Beno's domain") wines from the ''Marckrain''. In Sigolsheim, a charter of 783 notified that the Sigoltesberg vineyard (the current ''Mambourg'') was the common property of the nearby lords and monasteries. In Kintzheim in the 9th century, the Benedictine abbots of Ebersmunster owned vines on the ''Praelatenberg'' ("Prelates hill"). This lieu-dit has been farmed since 823. In Dahlenheim and Scharrachbergheim, a charter declared a high quality vineyard of the ''Engelberg'' in 884. In Wintzenheim in the 9th century, a gift from the abbey of Murbach cited the ''Hengst'' vineyard for the first time. The lords of Hohlandsbourg and the bailiff of Kayserberg shared its feudal rights until the French Revolution. Between 1000 and the
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
, other Alsatian ''lieux-dits'' have been owned by the nobility or the clergy. The wealth of the Alsatian charter-binders formed the historical basis for the delimitation of the ''Alsace Grands Crus lieux-dits''.


Contemporary

The Alsace wine region is distinct from other French wine regions. After the 1919
Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...
and the return of Alsace into France, German law in this previous Reichsland was largely retained as
local law Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...
. This situation held up the recognition of Alsace wines. A 1945 local ordinance designating the origin of Alsatian wines was used as the basis for the 1962 decree establishing the Alsace AOC. Neither the ordinance nor the decree contained a word about geographical designations or an allusion to ''crus''. The situation began to evolve with a decree in 1975 which created the designation "''Alsace Grand Cru''". Its first article makes clear that wines have first to meet the ''Alsace AOC'' rules. Then, a decree in 1983 designated an additional 25 ''lieux-dits''. In 1985, the INAO agreed to an increase in the ''Alsace Grands Crus'' list. The same year, a decree added 25 new names. In 1984, the Vendange Tardive and Sélection de Grains Nobles designations were introduced. In 1993, Rouffach was admitted in the Vorbourg ''lieu-dit.'' In 2001, the maximal yield was reduced. In 2005, exceptions to vine planting were allowed. The most recent additions were in 2007, bringing the total to 51 grand cru vineyards.


Geography

''Alsace grands crus'' are produced in north-eastern
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 ...
, in the
region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
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 ...
, on the territory of 47 communes (14 in
Bas-Rhin Bas-Rhin () is a department in Alsace which is a part of the Grand Est region of France. The name means 'Lower Rhine', referring to its lower altitude among the two French Rhine departments: it is downstream of the Haut-Rhin (Upper Rhine) de ...
and 33 in
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 ...
), from Marlenheim at northern end, westward from Strasbourg, to Thann at southern end, westward from Mulhouse.


Geology and orography

The Alsace plain occupies the south part of the
Upper Rhine Plain The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben ( German: ''Oberrheinische Tiefebene'', ''Oberrheinisches Tiefland'' or ''Oberrheingraben'', French: ''Vallée du Rhin'') is a major rift, about and on average , between Basel in the ...
, which formed from a collapse during the
Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...
and is followed since the
Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...
by the river
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 ...
. The vineyard stays on the lower slopes of the
Vosges Mountains The Vosges ( , ; ; Franconian (linguistics), Franconian and ) is a range of medium mountains in Eastern France, near its France–Germany border, border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the bor ...
, on the fault zone of the
graben In geology, a graben () is a depression (geology), depressed block of the Crust (geology), crust of a planet or moon, bordered by parallel normal faults. Etymology ''Graben'' is a loan word from German language, German, meaning 'ditch' or 't ...
, covered by
alluvial fan An alluvial fan is an accumulation of sediments that fans outwards from a concentrated source of sediments, such as a narrow canyon emerging from an escarpment. They are characteristic of mountainous terrain in arid to Semi-arid climate, semiar ...
s of the many rivers and creeks flowing from the nearby heights. This explains the variety of the subsurface materials and their succession forming a true mosaic:
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
,
granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...
,
shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...
,
gneiss Gneiss (pronounced ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. This rock is formed under p ...
or
sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
. Mainly, the upper part of the slopes of the sub-Vosge hills consists of old rocks:
pluton In geology, an igneous intrusion (or intrusive body or simply intrusion) is a body of intrusive igneous rock that forms by crystallization of magma slowly cooling below the surface of the Earth. Intrusions have a wide variety of forms and com ...
and
metamorphic rock Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock ( protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, caus ...
s like granite, gneiss or
slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...
. Vine-planted parcels are rather steep and climb up to 478 m height (near Osenbach). The lower part of the slopes consists of layers of limestone or
marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, Clay minerals, clays, and silt. When Lithification, hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. M ...
covered by
loess A loess (, ; from ) is a clastic rock, clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loesses or similar deposition (geology), deposits. A loess ...
where the slope is rather smooth. The plain consists of a thick layer of
alluvium Alluvium (, ) is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is ...
deposited by the Rhine (
silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension (chemistry), suspension with water. Silt usually ...
and
gravel Gravel () is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally on Earth as a result of sedimentation, sedimentary and erosion, erosive geological processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gr ...
). This zone is more fertile than the others, with an important
aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing material, consisting of permeability (Earth sciences), permeable or fractured rock, or of unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Aquifers vary greatly in their characteristics. The s ...
close to the surface (less than 5 m deep): the Upper Rhine aquifer. Such differences allow each Grand Cru to benefit from a particular
terroir (; ; from ''terre'', ) is a French language, French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, th ...
, even more differentiated by the climate.


Climatology

On the western side, the Vosges Mountains shield the Alsatian vineyards from wind and rain. Predominately western winds lose their moisture on the eastern side of the Vosges and arrive as
Foehn wind A Foehn, or Föhn (, , , ), is a type of dry, relatively warm downslope wind in the lee of a mountain range. It is a rain shadow wind that results from the subsequent adiabatic warming of air that has dropped most of its moisture on windw ...
s into the Alsace plain. The precipitation mean in Alsace is the least of all French wine regions.
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 ...
is one of the driest cities in France. Consequently, the climate is more temperate than expected at this latitude: the annual mean temperature is about 1.5 °C higher. The climate is semi-continental and dry with hot springs, sunny and dry summers, long autumns and cold winters. Each of the ''Grands Crus'' benefits from a
microclimate A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often slightly but sometimes substantially. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square m ...
, inevitably different from place to place.


Allowed varieties

As of 2011, Alsace Grand Cru wines can only be produced using one of four white grape varieties:
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 ...
,
Muscat Muscat (, ) is the capital and most populous city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the population of the Muscat Governorate in 2022 was 1.72 million. ...
,
Pinot gris Pinot gris, pinot grigio (, ), or ''Grauburgunder'' is a white wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. Thought to be a mutant clone of the pinot noir variety, it normally has a pinkish-gray hue, accounting for its name, but th ...
and
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 ...
. In 2006, Zotzenberg became the only Grand Cru vineyard that could produce wine from Sylvaner. Except for certain vineyards where blends are allowed, the wines must be exclusively made using a single variety and may be labelled as such.
Late harvest wine Late harvest wine is wine made from grapes left on the vine longer than usual. ''Late harvest'' is usually an indication of a sweet dessert wine, such as late harvest Riesling. Late harvest grapes are often more similar to raisins, but have been ...
s must be labelled by grape variety. For Muscat-labelled wines, only one of the allowed Muscat varieties can be used (see table below).


Vineyards where blends are allowed

In some Grand Cru vineyards, blends are allowed, which may also include some non-noble grapes. In Alsace, blends have usually been associated with wines of lesser quality. The producer primarily associated with high-quality blends is Marcel Deiss.


List of Alsace ''Grands Crus''

''Grand Cru'' vineyards ('' lieux-dits'') with their ''commune(s)''/village(s), ''département'', size and the date it was granted Grand Cru status. Where the same name is used for several vineyards, its official name is "vineyard" de "village", such as Altenberg de Bergbieten, Altenberg de Bergheim or Altenberg de Wolxheim.


See also

* Alsace wine regions *
Alsace wine Alsace wine or Alsatian wine (; ; ; ) is produced in the Alsace region in France and is primarily white wine. Because of its History of Alsace, Germanic influence, it is the only ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'' region in France to produce ...


References


External links


Alsace Grand Cru on the Official Alsace wines site
, linking to PDF-documents on each Grand Cru, retrieved 2011-04-22.
The Grand Cru system of Alsace
an
Sortable list of Alsace Grand Cru
o
alsace-wine.net
, retrieved 2011-04-22. {{DEFAULTSORT:Alsace Grand Cru Aoc Alsace wine AOCs