Cremant d'Alsace Flashcards
1
Q
Cremant d’Alsace
General info
A
- Accounts for 25% of total production
- Approximately 500 producers
- Area declared each year has grown by 15% in the last decade = increased demant for sparkling wine in general
- Pinot Blanc = most important variety
2
Q
Cremant d’Alsace
Flavour profile (Pinot Blanc based)
A
- medium intensity
- apple and pear fruit flavours
- brioche and/or bicuit-like autolytic notes
- medium (+) to high acidity
- light to medium body
- most wine in Brut style
3
Q
Cremant d’Alsace
Climate
A
- Most vineyard for both still and sparkling on the eastern flanks of the Vosges foothills
- Elevation ranging from 200m to 400m
- Vosges protect vineyards from prevailing westerly winds = sunny and continental climate (dry and hot during growing season / rain at harvest can be a problem)
- Shortage of water can be problematic as irrigation is not permitted
- High diurnal range = grape ripeness + high acidity retained (ideal for traditonal method)
- Spring frost can be a problem / worst in recent year with warmer and earlier springs resulting in early bud break = vines more vulnerable to spring frost and consequence reduction in yealds
4
Q
Cremant d’Alsace
Site location
A
- Best sites reserved for Riesling and other noble varieties to be made into still wine
- Pinot Blanc unsually in lower level elevations (high fertility = not suited to top-quality grapes) and some cooler sites in the higher valleys where grapes for still wine would struggle to ripen (Munster valley)
5
Q
Cremant d’Alsace
Grape varieties
A
- Pinot Blanc / Auxerrois / Chardonnay / Riesling / Pinot Gris / Pinot Noir
- Gewurztraminer and Muscat not permitted
Cremant d’Alsace = only appellation in Alsace that allows Chardonnay (only 1% of vineyard area)
Cremant d’Alsace Rosé = 100% Pinot Noir (can be very good quality / med to med+ flavour intensity
6
Q
Cremant d’Alsace
Pinot Blanc
A
- 20% of the total Alsace vineyard area (Pinot BLanc and Auxerrois combined)
- Inexpensive variety / some producer add Pinot Gris to the blend to raise quality
- early budding = vulnerable to spring frost
- early ripening + profile necessary for sparkling (just-ripe fruit) = very early harvest (last days of August, early september)
- Pear and apple aromas / high acidity
7
Q
Cremant d’Alsace
Vineyard management
A
- Generally pruned higher yealds than still wine = base wine do not need high concentration of flavour
- Max yealds = 80hL/ha (similar to Champagne)
- Growers must declare in July that they are going to make Cremant from particular vineyards
- Hand harvest
- Whole-bunch pressing is mandatory = High quality juice with low phenolic content
8
Q
Cremant d’Alsace
Winemaking
A
- Potential alcohol is low = must is often chaptalised
- Standard traditional method procedure
- Wines made from grapes from a single vintage = no reserve wines
- Tipically relative short time on lees (12 months) = wines show mainly primary fruit
- Some producer increase the time on lees = brioche and/or biscuit auntolytic notes + more complexity
- Most wines are Brut / Dosage level typically in the 8=10g/L range (sugar balance the acidity)
- Rosé made by maceration on the skin for 12-24 hours to get disired depth of colour
9
Q
Cremant d’Alsace
Wine Law and Wine Business
A
Production divided between:
- 43% co-operatives
- 37% merchant houses
- 20% Independent growers
Maison Bestheim = pioneers of Cremant d’Alsace / largest single company / makes wine from 1400 hectares (half owned by them and half by 450 growers)
- Volume of production more than doubled between 2000 and 2014, producing nearly 40 million bottles per year
- Most wine sold in France (around 72%)
10
Q
Crémant d’Alsace
Crémant d’Alsace emotion
A
- Prestige category launched in 2012 to create a top-quality category for Alsace sparkling wine
- min 75% Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir (separately or together)
- min 24 months on lees
- not proved popular
