#zotzenberg

[infowineghosts]

Wine Trip To Nothern Alsace

Date: 12/10/2019, Saturday

Route: https://goo.gl/maps/XLhaordcCy25dB9y5

Key Takeaways:

-        Hidden sweetness level

It’s probably better to ask about residual sugar and acidity levels, then the level of sweetness. Alsatian mostly go with the sensation of sweetness when describing their wines, so if you’d like to avoid an early headache of the sugar rush after the first couple of hours, you should eat, mix in some drier nectars or, as a last resort, spit.

-        “Edelzwicker” & “Gentil”

Although you will mostly find single varietal wines in the region, there are two types of cuvée , besides Cremant, that you may encounter. On the AOC Alsace level, the “Edelzwicker” can be made any of the permitted white grape varieties with almost any blending option the winemaker pleases. “Gentil” however must contain at least 50% of Riesling, Muscat, Pinot Gris and/or Gewürztraminer , and the rest can be either Sylvaner, Chasselas and/or Pinot Blanc. All the base wines are fermented separately and must have a vintage designation.

-        Soil is key!

As the locals say: Alsace is mosaic of soil. There are 13 main types of soil in the region that were blended together by ‘Mother Nature’ with a great sense of purpose, namely wines of character. Locals love to talk about terroir, especially their special cuvée of dirt beneath their precious grapevines. We only visited sites in the “Bas-Rhin” department, which is the Northern part of the Alsace, where soils are mostly limestone and clay-based.

-        Wines are meant to be with food!

If you want to please your palate as much as possible, have the wines with local specialties. Not only because the pH-level will significantly drop in your mouth after the first 30 minutes, but because it’s the right thing to do here. The French developed their cuisine around food & wine, don’t deceive them.

Starting off with my ‘assistant wine traveler’, aka girlfriend, to finally check out where that magical Gewürztraminer from Arthur Metz come from. It’s time to check the Alsatian vintners. Traffic was low, despite being a beautiful Saturday, the sun was also on our side, so we could easily immerse ourselves in the changing landscape. As we drove to the West, towards the Vosges mountains, broad agricultural fields followed on our flank. After a comfortable 3-hour drive from Germany, we drove straight to Gertwiller, a small village next to Barr, to begin our personal discovery of Alsace. We did not make any reservations at any of the desired destinations in advance, since all of the forums assured me that you can just hop in at any vintners for a free tasting at arrival. Although it was more or less true, maybe I wouldn’t recommend doing it at lunchtime, on the weekend or perhaps at harvest time.

Tip for Parking: Turn left right after Zeyssolff

1.      Zeyssolff

The most impressive stop on our little tour. Recently renewed interiors, stylish shop with various regional products and souvenirs, informative signs with “fun facts” about the region were drawn all over the place. Despite not having registered for the tasting in advance, the nice lady at the counter signed us up for a little tasting and cellar tour with a small German family. Soon after, a motivated red-haired Sommelier, Thierry, approached us to join. He spoke fluent German as well as English. Their instant tasting included: a  Crémant for apperitive, some old jokes, 30-minutes cellar tour, tasting of 7 different whites, and some homemade pastry. You can’t get any better than that for 9 Euros. All the wines were all balanced, although a bit too chilled.

Wines to recommend:

Riesling Alsace Grand Cru 'Zotzenberg' 2017

Fleur d'Alsace 2017

Réserve Riesling 2018

2.      Domaine Gilg

This quite small tasting room is located just in front of the restaurant, also recommended by the Michelin Guide, of the same name. As we stepped in, a nice middle-aged lady greeted us and offered her help both in English and German. Generous pouring, free samples and informative answers to all our answers. The lady even turned out to be the recent judge at the region’s respected wine competition << in the Pinot Noir category. She ensured us that Pinot Noir will be the next grape in the region being allowed on a Grand Cru label. This presumption came up at almost every winemaker we visited. However, I did not find any of the Pinots of this microregion particularly noteworthy nor falling somewhere in the same category of those of Burgundy. The wines I tasted mostly resemble the Würtemberger’s. Although I was assured that we should go more South to have a greater expression of the terroir and got a secret tip as well, but I get to it later.

Wines to recommend:

Riesling Alsace Grand Cru 'Zotzenberg' 2017

Riesling Alsace Grand Cru 'Zotzenberg' 2015

3.      Domaine Boeckel

After our pleasant staying at Gilg’s, the gates of the Domaine Boeckel were also opened just right before us. Short waiting after ringing the bell and a fidgety gentleman led us to a small tasting room just under the main door. His hands were still quite black from the dried grape juice and his German accent was a bit difficult to follow. He was quite succinct, but certainly of great knowledge about his terroir. Zotzenberg is the only site where Sylvaner is permitted to be labeled as a Grand Cru wine and the Boeckels found a way to somewhat “polish” the rather heavy and often a bit flabby reputation of this variety.

Wines to recommend:

Sylvaner Alsace Grand Cru 'Zotzenberg' 2017

Riesling Alsace Grand Cru 'Wiebelsberg' 2015

4.      Hirtz Edy

This winery was really the embodiment of rural family-run Alsatian winery. Lacking marketing budget, lower prices, the wine bottles sorted into different transparent cages in a 20 square meter room. Oh, and the rooster. We stayed about 15 minutes in that room while a well-fed rooster literally was standing rock-still next to us. In my dictionary, their wines were more like “everyday-wines”, but if you want to bring a case of Grand Cru Riesling of great value and aging potential, then that’s not a bad place to start.

Wines to recommend:

Riesling Alsace Grand Cru 'Zotzenberg' 2017

5.      Klipfel Eugène

This establishment is a place for tourists in the center of the village. Huge tasting area, brochures from the entire region, long wine list and friendly service. The wines were unfortunately quite disappointing though. That was the only place where we did not bring anything with us. The wines were lacking the sense of place and the character.

6.      Arthur Metz

We finally arrived to the source of that inspiring Gewürztraminer upon which my girlfriend was so inspired. Some brief impressions of the store: commercial, clueless staff, a great many different wines from all over France, shiny Crémant bottles, great presentation of soil-driven wines. They have a great selection of the region’s wines, but we only left with one Grand Cru Riesling, as all other wines were lacking the finesse and uniqueness. Even that bottle came from a bit further south from the area around Colmar.

Tip for a picnic with a view and parking lot

Charming villages to visit:

Ottrott, Obernai, Mittelbergheim, Barr

Restaurant of recommendation:

Rouge d'Ottrott, Ottrott

Typical cozy restaurant with a charming atmosphere, with motivated and sociable waiters as well as huge portions. We had the region’s typical foods of recommendations: Choucroute with a dry Riesling and Flammekueche with a drier style Muscat. The Riesling was a really a great companion for all the seven different types of meat on my plate. It's acidity cuts through the fatty bacon, its body complemented the richness of the sausages. The Muscat had a citrusy and white flower-dominant flavor profile as it should be. The aromas and refreshing acidity was a great compliment for the “Munsterkäse” /handmade soft cheese with a local AOC/ topping on the Alsatian pizza.

[winencsy]

We are continue our tasting through the Prestige Cuvée's of Famille Hauller @famillehauller in Alsace and today's focus is on this Sylvaner or Grüner Silvaner as they call it in Germany. This is the variety which only recently (2006) was included into the group of grapes in Alsace from which you can have a Grand Cru wine, although only from one vineyard, Zotzenberg. This Sylvaner has a pale golden color with silver hue and a medium viscosity. On the smell ripe fruity and floral aromas dominate with honeysuckle, yellow blossom flowers, pear, golden apple, apricot, orange and pineapple. The palate shows us a dry wine with medium plus acidity, medium alcohol and a slightly creamy medium body with flavours of the nose and some briochy character. It has a medium plus, pleasant lenght. A very good quality wine which best to drink in the next couple of years (until 2023) on 8-10°C. A very gastronomic wine, perfect with creamy pasta dishes, tuna tartare, charcuterie or creamy cheeses. Another great value wine, in Austria you can get it from Das Weinhaus for only 8,90€! What a good deal! Any Sylvaner lover here? Would you discover this variety? . . . . . #whitewine #whitewinelover #frenchwine #sylvaner #wineblog #wineblogger #winephotography #wineaddicted #weißwein #wineknowledge #wineinfluencer #winestyle #winetravel #weinliebhaber #instahungary #alsacewine #sommlifestyle #somm #neverstoptasting #wineenthusiast #wineeducation #wineexperience #womeninwine #womenwholovewine #travellingsommelier #youcansipwithus #sommeliere #wineandtravel #whitewines #sommlife (at Wien, Österreich) https://www.instagram.com/p/CO23pKhNbJk/?igshid=93r5fqlh9iok

[calendrierlavin2018]

Jour 2 - Z

Z, Jean-Pierre Rietsch

Direction l’Alsace pour ce deuxième épisode des calendriers de l’Avin et première pour moi, donc je flippe un peu. En plus, j’ai choisi une cuvée avec plein de lettres mises dans un ordre pas facile. Un peu comme l’accent de Christophe Lindenlaub, vigneron magique de Dorlisheim ...ah pardon, ce n’est pas un accent , c’est du patrimoine, me souffle-t-il dans l’oreillette. Du coup, certains noms sont raccourcis, ou placés sous acronymes ou initiales.

Je ne vais pas aujourd’hui vous parler de la cuvée K d’Arnaud Geshikt, à Ammerschwihr (un pinot noir pourtant exceptionnel et puissant sur le terroir de Kaefferkopf, côteaux de marnes et de calcaire).

Je vais plutôt évoquer la cuvée Z de Jean-Pierre Rietsch (Je parle bien de la cuvée Z, parce qu’il a aussi une cuvée W et une cuvée ZzsZ. Ne confondez pas !), à Mittelbergheim, village magnifique surtout quand les hordes de bus touristiques sont reparties … C’était il y a un mois, un retour du marché des Lices à Rennes avec des amis, des amis disons catégorie A+.

Oh, tiens, des encornets. On ne va pas s’embêter, on va juste les snacker (30 secondes dans la poële chaude), un peu d’huile d’olive, ail, fleur de sel et piment d’Espelette.

Oh tiens, des coquilles St Jacques, début de saison. Juste snackées elles aussi, encore translucides mais bien chaudes. Un beurre de gingembre pour booster le goût, un tour de poivre noir, basta. Du coup, on se tourne vers la cave et là, une bouteille lève le doigt en disant « Moi ! Moi ! Moi ! ». J’ai toujours confiance en une bouteille qui va se mettre en vibration avec un plat. Et là, paf, tout bon ! Pas besoin d’ouverture préalable, carafage, ou autre préparation, une quille facile. Je vous la présente d’abord de manière factuelle : 14 %vol / 1,7g/l sucres / So2 total : 9mg/l. Un jus issu des terroirs du Grand Cru Zotzenberg (oui, le Z n’était pour Zorro, hein …), composé de calcaires gréseux ferrugineux (comme le fer à dix sous). Ce sous-sol varié va donner à ce vin de la salinité, des épices, de la tension. Of course, levures indigènes. Mais la complexité ne tient pas qu’au terroir, elle provient d’un élevage long, 22 mois en foudre. Y’a pas que le terroir, dans la vie, y’a aussi le boulot du vigneron. Et Jean-Pierre n’est pas avare de boulot, de recherches, de réflexions ...et de talent. On ne trouve pas moins d’une bonne douzaine de cuvées chez lui. Depuis quelques années, en dehors de cuvées « classique » (mais ce mot ne rend pas hommage à son travail), il avance sur le chemin des macérations longues de cépages blancs. Un muscat (Murmure), un gewurtztraminer (Demoiselle), un pinot gris (Quand le chat n’est pas là). Il y a des accords épatants à faire sur ces macérations longues : fromages puissants, tartes aux coings, voire andouillette au saté (que ceux qui testeront cet accord m’écrivent pour échanger à ce sujet-message sérieux !)

Avec tout ça, je ne vous ai même pas parlé du cépage. Mais bon, quel cépage alsacien se marie à merveille avec des plats salins comme les encornets ou les St Jacques ? Avec des épices comme l’Espelette ou le gingembre ? Qui est, comme le chenin, proteiforme, toujours surprenant, en un mot magique ? Oui, c’est bien un Riesling !!

Dernier point à savoir sur Jean-Pierre Rietsch et qui lui tient à coeur : les étiquettes. Il collabore depuis une quinzaine d’années avec la plasticienne Marie Dréa. Je vous encourage à aller voir la galerie https://alsace-rietsch.eu/galerie/ pour découvrir la multitude d’étiquettes réalisées avec talent. C’est important, les étiquettes ! C’est un lien subtil mais efficace entre l’intention placée par le/la vigneron.ne, la cuvée elle-même et nous, francs buveurs (mais pas d’étiquettes). Ca permet même parfois de ne pas tenir compte de l’avis du caviste, c’est dire, parce que la vibration, l’émotion, elle passe d’abord par là, avant même de passer par la dégustation. Faites confiance à votre instinct, toujours ! Je viens donc, en 671 mots, d’écrire 14 fois la lettre z, et 6 fois la lettre k, je pensais faire pire !! Assez de cuvées avec des initiales, je vais me reposer en buvant ...tiens pourquoi pas un 3C, de Jérôme et Charlotte Bourgeois ...

Christophe Ligeron - Resto-Cave “Un midi dans les vignes”

[domainycwine]

Nothing on earth like Albert Seltz "Zotzenberg" Sylvaner grand Cru 2005