CRÉMANT - Alsace Flashcards
What % of all wine is Alsace is sparkling?
25%
How many producers make crémant d’Alsace?
500 producers. Usually alongside their still wines
What is the climate in Alsace and where are the vineyards?
Climate is warm continental. The vineyards lie on the eastern side of the Vosges Mountains which protect from prevailing winds.
Lack of rain in the growing season causes what problem
Water shortages as Irrigation is not permitted
What other hazards are there in Alsace?
- earlier and earlier arrival of warmer weather means early bud break making the buds vunerable to Spring Frost
What is the principle grape used for sparkling wine in Alsace?
Pinot Blanc
Where is PB grown?
Best sites kept for Riesling and other high quality noble grapes
PB is a high fertility grape and produces neutral fruit with high acid in grown in the higher valleys too cool for the noble grapes
Crémant d’Alsace is the only Alsace appellation which allows which grape?
Chardonnay
After PB, what the grapes are permitted in their sparklers?
Auxerrois, Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir
Is Riesling routinely used in sparklers?
No. It is usually used in still wine where it commands more money
What grapes in the region are not permitted in d’Alsace?
Muscat and Gewurztraminer - too aromatic
Pinot Blanc is susceptible to what hazard?
spring frost as it buds early
PB is early budding but is it early ripening?
Yes. It ripens early and is picked early to maintain acidity.
Does sparkling wine schedule interfere with the still wine schedule?
It shouldn’t. Early picking of PB means that harvest and reception at winery occurs before that of grapes used in the still wine
Harvest time for PB for use in sparklers is when?
late August to early September
Potential alcohol in the grapes is high or low and how is this corrected?
LOW and corrected through chaptilization
In terms of reserve wine, how does crémant d’alsace differ from champagne?
No reserve wines used. Just single vintages in Alsace
Name a high quality cooperative in Alsace
Cave de Turkheim
Do Cave de Turkheim age for the 12 month minimum?
They often age on lees for up to two years to increase the biscuit autolytic notes
How is crémant d’Alsace rosé made?
By macerating the wine on its skins for 12-24 hours until color intensity is reached
What is the distribution breakdown of houses, cooperatives, grower sparklers?
43% Cooperatives
37% Merchant Houses
20% Growers
What is the largest cooperative in the region?
Maison Bestheim
How many hectares does the largest single coop use to make still and sparkling wines? What % of that does it own?
1400 hectares. It owns 50% and the other half owned by 450 growers
50% of all champagne is sold in France, what is the % for C d’A
80% of C d’A is sold in France
what are the grape and ageing rules of the new (2012) UNPOPULAR Crémant d’Alsace Emotion catagory?
- min 75% PB and/or Chardonnay and/or PN
- 24 months minimum lees ageing
