The Wines of Alsace
It’s hard to imagine a more pleasant road trip than a leisurely jaunt along the Alsace Wine Route, the oldest wine route in France. It’s a 105-mile road that winds through a narrow valley hemmed on the west by the rolling hills of the Vosges mountains and the Rhine river – the border with Germany – to the east. The full route is typically driven, walked, or cycled southward from Marlenheim to Thann, and passes through many gorgeous medieval villages and miles and miles of vineyards along the way.
This was our first journey to this lovely region, which has a distinctive culture influenced by the proximity of Germany, and the fact that it was a part of that country for forty years after the Franco-Prussian War, and again during German occupation during WWII. Restaurants in the main cities of Strasbourg and Colmar serve fantastic food distinguishing between local Alsatian specials such as Choucroutes (sauerkraut covered by five different meats) and lighter French fare. The food, both local and cosmopolitan, is excellent, but the main attraction is the wine.
Alsatian wine was once highly regarded and exported throughout Europe. But it suffered in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when it was blended with German wines to increase production. Later associations with German wines, similarly bottled, did not improve its popularity. However, during the last 50 years, production has been strictly controlled and limited to grapes grown only in this distinctive terroir, and the growing development to more biodynamic and natural processes have restored the richness and excitement to these generations-old vineyards.
We communicated in advance of our journey with a few wine makers prior to our flight to France, but did not anticipate the extraordinarily warm welcome and generosity of time (and wine!) they prepared for our visits. We spent two hours at each, tasting 12 to 15 wines, and getting an intimate history of the generations of family vineyards; an in-depth description of the terroir – the consistencies of the soil, the slopes of the hillsides, the weather patterns (and disruptions); and the unique methods and philosophies of the wine makers.
There are eight varieties of wine produced in Alsace – seven of which are whites. Those include Pinot Blanc, Sylvaner, Riesling, Muscat, Pinot Gris, Gewuztraminer, and Cremant. The sole red is Pinot Noir, and that was perhaps my personal favorite. I’m also a big Riesling fan; I was particularly looking forward to trying several, and was not disappointed by the selections I tasted.
Two winemakers in particular made a lasting impression, and for very different reasons.
Because we were interested in tasting natural wines – that is, made without filtration and without additives of any kind – we made a point to visit Adrien Stouffler, the latest generation of wine makers at Domaine Vincent Stouffler in Barr, because of his knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm for producing natural wines. Although the Domaine includes wines produced using more traditional methods, we limited our tastings to only Adrien’s extensive selection (all eight Alsatian varietals) of natural wines, including some macerated (skin contact, or “orange”) wines. This was a deep dive into the exhilarating impact that natural processes have on wines we were formerly familiar with. The Pinot Gris and Rieslings were delightfully eye opening; the Pinot Noir, aged in old oak tanks (not barrels) was delicious. Likewise, I was bowled over by a macerated wine called Icarus, made from a selection of the best of the oldest Stoeffler vines and stored in Amphor casks. These wines will certainly please the many enthusiasts who have come to value naturally produced wines. https://www.vins-stoeffler.com/?lang=en
The other wine maker we were keen to visit was Muriel Gueth, of Domaine Gueth in Gueberschwihr. Like many vintners in Alsace, Muriel is carrying on a family tradition of wine making, and also is the second generation of women to run the family business. She combines lifelong experience, academic credentials in agricultural and viticulture, and a determination to take a radically different approach to wine making. Muriel rejects the notion of pre-determining what you would like a wine to taste like and then shape it through the wine making processes, and instead allows the wine to become what nature means it to be. This approach leads to wines that can taste significantly different, and I would say much better, than similar varietals produced in more traditional ways. Her Pinot Blanc Auxerrois, for instance, tastes closer to a Chardonnay. And her close observations and intuition have led her to produce fantastic and unconventional blends: Les Roches Dorees combines Pinot Gris and Sylvaner; Les Gres Roses blends Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc; and the aptly named Harmonie combines Riesling and Gewurztraminer. Domaine Gueth is a vineyard waiting to be discovered in the States. https://www.vin-alsace-gueth.com/en/
Alsace is still an under-appreciated wine growing region. I suspect that will change within just a few years. We are hoping that some of the introductions we made will lead to fruitful partnerships and more distinctive wine available for American consumers.
