Wines of Alsace
The French region of Alsace is one of the best wine producers in the country of France. The wine from this region is classified into two type’s i.e. Burgundy and Bordeaux and the grade to distinguish them is “grand cru” which takes out the best from the best.The wine classification in Alsace goes as following
AOC Alsace Grand Cru: this is followed buy the variety of the grape that the wine was made from as well as the name of the vineyard that manufactured the wine.
AOC Alsace: this is the wine name usually followed by the grape varieties that made up the wine for e.g. Gewurztraminer, Sylvaner, Riesling, Pinot Blanc etc.
AOC Cremant d’Alsace: this is sparkling wine i.e. wine with bubbles.
Wine making in Alsace
Since the time of the Roman Conquest, the Alsatian vinegrowers have been at the task of producing some of the finest wines know to man.
the production of wine from Alsace is some of the wines wine production in the whole of France and this distinction come to it due to the superior quality of grapes used for the production of the wines. The grape varieties usually used are Riesling, Gewurztraminer or Sylvaner.
The wines of Alsace are usually refreshing white wines, almost all of the production is of white wines, the statistics say that the wines produced in Alsace are 90% white wines.
Alsace Wines
1) Size of the vineyards is around 15,000 hectares
2) There are approximately 6000 wine growers in the region
3) The soil for the wines is of a very diverse nature and ranges from marble and clay to sand and granite. Volcanic soil can be found in the regions of Kastelberg grands crus and Rangen
4) The weather is hot summers and winters are cold with a semi-continental touch and quite frequent snowfall
5) The grapes in Alsace are
Pinot Blanc (20%), Riesling (23% of Alsace wines), Gewurztraminer (18%), Tokay Pinot Gris (13%), Sylvaner (12%)
Other grapes grown in the region of Alsace are: Pinot Noir (10%) - Muscat (2.5%)
6) Alsace has an annual production of 165 million bottles. 20% of the total white wine production of France is in Alsace.
7) The kinds of wine produced in Alsace are:-
Riesling: elegant dry white wine
Pinot Blanc:
Gewurztraminer: aromatic white wine
Tokay Pinot Gris:
Sylvaner:
Other wines are: Vendanges Tardives, Edelzwicker, Muscat, Pinot Noir, etc
Filed under: France
