Alsace

Rivers unite, mountains divide. This is a truism of geopolitics. Yet for about 100 miles the Rhine separates France and Germany. It runs through a valley, bordered to the west by France’s Vosges Mountains and to the east by Germany’s Black Forest. The western side is Alsace.

The Rhine is the frontier because of hundreds of years of cultural and military clashes that tore apart this beautiful, bloody land. Three wars between 1870 and 1945 depopulated and destroyed much of Alsace. Yet today it keeps its unique character in peace and prosperity. The houses are half-timbered and wholly German. The French is heavily accented. However if you want to provoke a fistfight with a massive Teuton, just go into a local bierstube and say something about Alsace being German. Today the people of Alsace are the most patriotic people of France.

The wines are French, period. The grapes are the same as in Germany but the style is completely different. The great glory of German wine is light, lacy, off-dry to very sweet Riesling. Riesling is also Alsace’s greatest varietal but it is made in a firm, dry ageworthy style. Oddly enough most Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer have a touch of residual sugar. These are 3 of Alsace’s 4 officially ‘noble’ varietals, with Muscat, a perfumed oddity, the fourth. The biggest production is Pinot Blanc, an appealing varietal whose flavors bridge Chardonnay and earthy Pinot Gris. Almost 10% of the vineyard is planted to Pinot Noir, made into both red and rose, although it can be hard to tell the difference. Sylvaner gives huge yields and is the white equivalent of the Midi’s ‘gros rouge’. Close to 15% of production is Cremant d’Alsace, a Methode Champenoise sparkler that can be anything from a cheap Sylvaner blend to an intricate beauty made from Pinots sometimes adorned with a touch of Riesling.

Over 10% of Alsace’s vineyards are designated ‘Grand Cru’. These are the best, steepest, usually south-facing slopes. However only 5% of the wines are sold as Grand Cru. Only the ‘noble’ varietals can use the name. Maximum yields are lower and ripeness standards higher. Grand Crus sell for twice the price of basics and are often worth the difference.

When the sun smiles and the warmth lasts through October Alsace saves some grapes for late picking. The first category is ‘Vendanges Tardives’, or ‘late harvest’. Not usually very sweet, the wines are off-dry powerhouses of great concentration and depth. Finally there is Selections des Grains Nobles, great rich sweet dessert wines picked shrivelled grape by grape and capable of improvement for decades.

The varietals grown in Alsace are grown in dozens of other countries. Nobody can say that German Rieslings are inferior to those of Alsace but a case can also be made that Alsace produces the finest wines possible from its assortment of grapes. Of course the wines are almost always good, often fine and sometimes great. Of equal importance, they are unique to this small corner of the world. Alsace’s versions always taste only like Alsace wines and they are some of the finest, most food-friendly wines in the world.