Friendly Alsace Wineries
 

Hello Everyone. I am will be in Alsace in September. I will be visiting wineries with a look to bringing home wine to remember my trip. I enjoy visiting small wineries where the people like to talk about their wines and how they use their own style to bring out the terroir of their wine. Does anyone have a favorite they would like to recommend?

PS I really like to visit the wineries which we call in Canada estate wineries where they grow their own grapes and take it to the bottle. I'm not a big fan of the central tasting rooms representing a lot of wineries. I realize I may have a problem since this is harvest and many tasting rooms will be closed during harvest. This was an amazing tradition to be since in Ontario and California they use harvest as an excuse to bring in more tourists. A

Many trips ago, we stayed on two occasions at this hotel http://www.relaisduvignoble.com/ in the small wine town of Guebeschwihr (sp?). The hotel had just opened and, was excellent; our balcony looked out over their vineyard. The restaurant was also fantastic. The owners took us on a tour of their cave and even gave us an additional free bottle of gewurztraminer when we purchased one. So, I heartily recommend it to you. of course, years have passed and a new generation may be running the establishment, but it was an incredibly friendly family and we will never forget their hospitality.

I can recommend a few, but need to know if you speak French.

French is not my first language but I have spent some time living in Quebec and my frech is passable not fluent. I will, however, be travelling with my two nieces, 20 and 22, who are bilingual. A

My favourite producer is Leon Boesch whose wines are from the Zinnkoepfle Grand Cru area. His Cave is on the left-hand side of the road to Soultzmatt.Tastings are free and generous, but Madame Boesch speaks French only.
French is also the only language spoken at Domaine Barmes-Buecher in Wettolsheim.
English IS spoken at the Cave of Marcel Deiss, probably currently the best producer in Alsace. His Cave is on the right-hand side of the road from Ribeauville to Bergheim, just as you enter Bergheim. The Cave has displays of cross-sections of the soil strata from each of his Grand Cru vineyards, with explanations of how that terroir affects the taste of the wine.
Very personable English-speaking staff at the Cave of Jean Hugel in the centre of Riquewihr can also explain the production of the fine wines available there.
Another English-speaking vigneron is Martin Schaetzel in Ammerschwihr, which produces wines Grand Cru Kaefferkopf.
Further questions: Are you familiar with wines from Alsace? Do you know what to ask for when you do visit a local Cave? Which type(s) of wines from Alsace do you prefer?

A few generalisations.

The wines in the South (Haut) are the best. There is a wine route along which you will find loads of little brown signs pointing out each "vinyard". The vast majority are small french speaking companies and will be pretty uninterested in chatting in English. However there are some larger ones who are set up to handle volume visitors Cave de Turkeheim is a great place to start as you get to understand the protocol.

Hugel is a larger "Boutique" and if you know what you are talking about will love to see you.

My favorite is Mure right in the south and makes one of the few reds which are worth drinking. I also like Hueglin Maternelle (sorry may have missed a few letters there) as they like to chat but in French

At first I was disappointed about reading of the wines of Alsace since I am not a big fan of Gewurztraminer or Reisling but since Viognier, Muscat and Pinot Noir are among my favs I think I will find things I like. Must admit if the first point of this trip was wine I would be heading for Bordeaux and Burgandy as big heady reds are what make my eyes roll.

Hi A,

>At first I was disappointed about reading of the wines of Alsace since I am not a big fan of Gewurztraminer or Reisling...<

Before you make any judgments, taste the wine.

We are very much fans of the Pinot Gris.

((I))

hi ashjen

adeben said "I can recommend a few, but need to know if you speak French".

this reminded me of an experience we had about 25 years ago when we were visiting the bordeaux area, and spent a morning round the caves. we went to one in particular where as well as degustations, there was a tour, all in french, with which we struggled, but tried to look and sound intelligent, especially we were the only ones taking it.

it was only at the end when we were paying for our purchases, that our guide realised that we, like her, were english. Her french was , of course, far better than ours!

i find that i enjoy the alsace gewurztraminer wines with the food when I'm there. and at home, with the right sorts of dishes, when I feel up to cooking them.

regards, ann

The mainn Grand Cru varieties in Alsace are riesling and gerwurtztraminer, so, by not tasting those, you would be depriving yourself of learning how 'terroir' affects the taste of Alsace's finest.
That said, my wife, like Ira, is very partial to the Pinot Gris! But I believe that life is too short to drink other than Grand Cru wines!

N.B. the years 2000 and 2003 were very hot vintages in Alsace, and some of the wines from those years that I have tasted have not been true to type. Some were quite interesting, but not typical, and that's something further to bear in mind.

Hello All, Please don't misunderstand me. When I said "I am not a big fan of Gewurztraminer or Reisling" I was by no means implying I have a closed mind. When I visit a winery I always taste their specialties... that's the way I find new and exciting things. I find terroir makes a huge difference. For example Hunter Valley known for shiraz but make a lot of Pinot Noir none of which suited me but LOVED the Pinots in Tasmania. So maybe the Alsace will make me a Gevert drinker!! Thanks so much for everyone for the great stories about individual wineries that was exactly the kind of stuff I was hoping people would be willing to share. A PS I am not a big fan of our local Pinot Gris but have liked lots of Italian ones so look forward to trying them in the Alsace also.

We just got back from a few days of tasting in Alsace, and had some great experiences there.

I second the recommendation of Marcel Deiss. Great wine, very informative. Also Hugel, we had a great time there - and though you're in town in a tasting room, it's still a great town to visit and well worth it. Right up the street is a restaurant that's great and authentic called Le Tire Bouchon - hope I spelled that right. Be warned, the portions are huge and it's hard to turn away...we had to roll ourselves down to the Hugel tasting room after. :)

For some others...we really enjoyed visiting Albert Boxler in Niedermorschwihr. You're at their home, overlooking their vinyards, and they really take the time to talk about their wines, vintages etc. And the wine was great. Very relaxed.

At all three of those places, our tastings were entirely in English.

Oh, and we also visited Domaine Stirn in Sigolsheim (hope I spelled that right), which was great. Again, it's at their house, and Fabien Stirn talked to us about his wine and the history of the area. Those wines are good and very very affordable, which is nice. :)