I thought it was appropriate to begin my worldwide wine tasting tour in the Old World wine powerhouse of France. Since the last several weeks of my pregnancy coincided with when summer FINALLY decided to show up in Northern California this year, I was craving white wine. Alsace (acceptable pronunciations seem to be Ell-sass or Al-zas) is a northern wine region (average July temperature of 66 degrees), with very low rainfall, though it is sun drenched. Ninety percent of the wine they produce is white.

There’s hardly anything more refreshing at the end of a hot day (in a house without A/C!) than a cold glass of crisp, mineral-tinged, acidic wine. This happens to be the specialty of Alsace. The major grapes grown here are riesling, gerwürztraminer, pinot gris, muscat, sylvaner and pinot blanc, and the wines are dry in style. Unlike some German and US wines made from these grapes, they have little or no residual sugar and thus aren’t sweet (i.e. off-dry), nor is new oak typically used. This preserves the acidity of the grapes- just the way I like it! Another fun part of these wines is that they are bottled in the distinctive tall, narrow bottles traditional to the region- typically green glass- called flûtes d’Alsace. And, unlike any other region in France, they put the grape varietal on the label! Yay!

At different points in the past this region has belonged to both France and Germany, and the influence of the German culture and language is especially evident in the names of the wines, villages and vineyards. Nestled in between the Vosges Mountains and the river Ill, along the border with Germany, Alsace is really just a thin strip of land.

I’m particularly excited about this region (and getting started!), because crisp, acidic, no-oak white wines tend to be my favorites. I’ve often turned to Marlborough in New Zealand to satisfy these cravings, and find things every now and then from CA that fit the bill, but I think I’m about to discover an additional source. As far as I can recall I’ve never before tasted an Alsatian wine.

Here’s what I picked up for the month:
2007 Trimbach Riesling
2008 Roland Schmitt "Glintzberg" Gewürztraminer
2008 Boeckel Sylvaner Vieilles Vignes
2008 Charles Baur Pinot Blanc
2007 Schlumberger "Prince Abbes" Pinot Gris





Here's a map of the five winery locations in France:
View Alsace, France in a larger map