Alsace Flashcards
Throughout the entire Middle Ages, Alsace was a province of…?
the Germanic Holy Roman Empire
In 1648, the conclusion of the 30 years war cemented France’s ownership of Alsace and was cemented by which treaty?
The Treaty of Westphalia
The French-Habsburg (Spanish) rivalry catapulted the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) in Europe from a localized German religious dispute into a general European war for political dominance.
In 1639, French armies seized a majority of the region of Alsace to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Spanish Habsburgs. The Treaty of Westphalia concluded the war in 1648 and cemented France’s ownership of Alsace until Germany claimed the territory with Lorraine at the conclusion of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871.
When did Alsace-Lorraine experience a very brief time of total independence?
Alsace-Lorraine enjoyed an extremely brief period of total independence as the abdication of Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm brought the end of World War I, but French troops quickly moved on Alsace-Lorraine and its capitol, Strasbourg, and re-incorporated the region into the country within a month. Despite a short occupation by Nazi Germany in the early 1940s, Alsace remains French.
What is the capitol of Alsace?
Strasbourg
When were vines first grown in Alsace?
Vine growing in Alsace dates back to the first millenium and peaked in the 16th century prior to the 30 years war (1618-1648).
In the following 300 years political instability suppressed the growing of vines.
French control after WWI reasserted vine growing, but it wasn’t until 1945 until it really took off.
1945 was also the year where clear divergences in French and German winemaking styles appeared.
German wines remained classically sweet, whereas Alsace producers fermented to dryness for a more powerful and food-friendly wine.
When did Alsace achieve AOC status?
1962 - The last major wine region to achieve status
Alsace is Frances smallest region. It is divided into which two departments?
Haut-Rhin and Bas- Rhin
This division provides a useful convention for quality of wine: generally the premier wines originate in the Haut-Rhin, and over two-thirds of Alsace’s Grand Cru vineyards are located in the département.
What mountains cast a rain shadow for Alsace?
Vosges Mountains
The mountains provide a “rain shadow” effect; Alsace is one of France’s driest and sunniest climates. Colmar, capital of the Haut-Rhin département, is the driest city in France.
How are Alsace’s better vineyards situated?
The better vineyards enjoy southern, southeastern, or warm eastern exposures to maximize sunlight. However, despite its northerly location, Alsatian vines typically ripen with greater regularity than those in the Loire or northern Burgundy, due to the sheer number of sunlight hours in the summertime.
What is grés de Vosges?
The local pink sandstone that can be found throughout the region
What soil types are found in Alsace?
Many soil types are found in Alsace: granite, limestone, schist, clay, gravel, chalk, loess, and the local pink sandstone—grés de Vosges
The steeper mountain slopes are generally composed of schist, granite and volcanic sediment.
The lower slopes sit on a limestone base, and the plain at the base of the mountains consists of richer alluvial clay and gravel soils.
What percentage of the Alsace AOP is dedicated to white grapes?
90%
What are the 4 noble grapes of Alsace?
Riesling
Pinot Gris
Muscat (either Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, Muscat Rosé à Petits Grains or Muscat Ottonel)
Gewurztraminer
These 4 noble grapes occupy the premier sites and are, with minor exceptions, the only grapes planted in the region’s grand cru vineyards.
The region’s main appellation—Alsace AOP, or Vin d’Alsace AOP—allows the noble grapes and which others to be bottled varietally?
Chasselas (Gutedel)
Sylvaner
Pinot Noir
Pinot Blanc (Klevner) - pinot blanc is an exception and is often blended with Auxerrois
Pinot Blanc is generally blended with which grape in Alsace?
Pinot Blanc is often blended with the similar but not synonymous Auxerrois.
What percentage of a grape must be included in a varietally labeled Alsace AOP wine?
100%
In Alsace, a white wine simply labeled “Pinot,” may contain any proportion of which related varieties?
Pinot Noir
Pinot Blanc
Pinot Gris
Auxerrois.
Even if bottled as a single variety, Auxerrois may be accorded the title ________ on the label
Pinot Blanc
Which is Alsace’s most planted grape?
Riesling
How do Alsatian Rieslings differ to German rieslings?
Alsatian Rieslings are characteristically dry, more powerful, and higher in alcohol than their German cousins. They are amongst the longest- lived dry whites in the world, due to a pronounced acidity and minerality.
With sweetness creeping steadily upward in recent years, Alsatian AOP law mandates, from 2008 forward, that standard Riesling wines must be dry in style.
Formerly called Tokay d’Alsace, this varietal is perhaps Alsace’s most quintessential wine.
Pinot Gris - the grape here achieves its fullest, richest expression, with spicy-smoky qualities and a frame solid–though hardly high– acidity.
How would you describe Muscat and Gewurztraminer?
Muscat and Gewurztraminer are both highly aromatic.
Muscat shows fragrant floral and grapy notes.
Gewurztraminer tends toward perfumed, sweet spices and tropical fruit.
Both are lower in acidity, but Gewurztraminer is higher in alcohol and more likely to be off-dry. New oak is usually not a factor in the vinification of these varieties, although many producers use large neutral casks for fermentation and aging.
Does Muscat and/or Gewurztraminer see wood?
Often times, old wood. Rarely new wood.
Name two clones of the traditional grape Traminer
Gewurztraminer - planted in Alsatian vineyards in the mid 19th century
Savagnin - planted in the Jura region and retains a few plantings around the commune of Heiligenstein in the Bas-Rhin; the grape is known locally as Klevener.
This Savagnin Rose, or Klevener de Heiligenstein, is less intensely aromatic than Gewurztraminer but higher in acidity.
Which 5 Alsatian communes can bottle Klevener varietally?
Heiligenstein Bourgheim Gertwiller Goxwiller Obernai.
What does Edelzwicker indicate on a label?
Edelzwicker means “noble mixture” but usually indicates its own inverse: an inexpensive blended wine.
Alsace AOP wines labeled Edelzwicker do not need to be vintage-dated, nor are they even legally obligated to contain more than one grape.
In practice they are blends, however, and do not need to indicate any percentages or grapes on the label.
What does “Gentil” indicate on a wine label?
“Gentil” is a superior designation for blends, requiring a minimum of 50% noble grapes.
Any other Alsace AOP grape may compose the remainder, and the base wines must be vinified separately.
What is the minimum percentage of noble grapes required in a “Gentil” labeled bottle?
50% minimum noble grapes
When are the wines blended together in a Gentil blending?
The wines are vilified separately and blended after vinification.
When producers create field blends, when are the wines blended together?
The grapes are cofermented
