The Wines of Alsace

Its Spring.  The weather is getting warmer, and Summer is just around the corner.  I'm not sure if everyone categorizes wines as either a Summer wine or a Winter Wine.  In my case, any time you open a bottle of wine is a good time to drink it.  That being said, if you are one who thinks of wines in terms of the weather, let me introduce you to something other than Pinot Grigios or Sauvignon Blancs.

The Alsace region in France is known mostly for white wine, and tends to use the varietal name on the label.  Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Blanc are a few examples.  These wines, however, can be rather costly.  But, when these wines are blended, they offer a good starting point for enjoying Alsace wines.

Edelzwicker is a blanket term used for these wines, and they have no restrictions as to the blend or how it is vinified.  The term Gentil, is also a blend, but must stick to an established charter of how these wines are blended and vinified.  Only the "noble" varietals can be used, and they all need to be vinified separately before blending.

 Some Alsace producers use a proprietary name for their blend, or simply label it is as an Alsace Blanc.  Keutz Bas is an example of this.

The blend for this wine is made up of Sylvaner, Auxerrois and Muscat.  These aren't exactly house hold names, but they do make a nice wine that is light, floral and dry.

The Meyer-Fonne Edelzwicker is composed mostly of Pinot Blanc, and the rest are a combination of the lesser known varietals.  It is also floral, dry and complex.

Hugel's Gentil follows the standards of the charter, and uses Gewurztraminer as its base.

It is freshly aromatic with floral and fruit driven notes.  It has a bit more body than the others mentioned here, but finished equally dry.

All these wines are perfect for the warmer weather, but should not be relegated to the shelf until the Spring time.  They are delicious all year.  As far as a food pairing, please check out my recipe for Alsace Farmhouse Chicken.

Louis Latour Pinot Noir Valmoissine

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of spending a week with the Latours at their annual Burgundy Seminar.  It was a wonderful experience that I'll treasure, and what I learned remains with me until this day.

The Latour offices are in the town of Beaune.  They are what is known as a Negociant, meaning that they buy a large amount of theirs grapes from some of the smaller growers in Burgundy.  While they do own vineyards in the Burgundy region, they started investing in other areas of France, particularly in the south.  Burgundy prices had long been going up, and the Latours saw an opportunity to craft great wines at a reasonable price.

Their first purchase was in the Ardeche.  Ardeche is located west of the Rhone Valley and is an ideal climate for Chardonnay.  They produce two wines from this area, one is a stainless steel fermented wine with a clean, and crisp flavorful profile.  The other is called The Grand Ardeche and uses grapes that the Latours feel are perfectly suited for their Burgundian style of wine making.  This means that they are barrel fermented and aged in oak for a certain amount of time.

Now, onto my favorite of the bunch.  After the Latours found so much success making Chardonnay in the south of France, they wanted to find an area to plant Pinot Noir.  Their search ended in the VAR region.  No reason to get wine geeky here, just realize that Pinot Noir needs a long growing season with cool nights.  They found these conditions at an ancient monastary and university named Valmoissine.  At an elevation of about 500 meters, there is plenty of sun during the day, and the nights cool down to ensure a long growing season with plenty of hang time.

I had previously been bitten by the Pinot Noir bug long before I tasted this wine.  The problem was that the bug that bit me sold for about $30.00.  This was not exactly in my price range. So when I tasted the Valoissine Pinot Noir, I new immediatly that this was going to be my go-to Pinot Noir.  It had all the characteristics of the one mentioned above and sells in the $14.99 range.

I'm not going to burden you with all the aromas and flavors I got out of this wine.  It was just a sublime experience that Pinot Noir lovers have, and can only be experience subjectively.  So, I encourage all, not just Pinot Noir lovers to give this wine a taste.  Please share your experience and thoughts in the comment section.