SPONSORED PROFILE: Asian persuasion

The Grands Crus of Alsace are remarkable not only for their quality but also for their compatibility with Asian cuisine, as explained in a seminar by Thierry Fritsch

They may represent only 4% of total wine production in Alsace, but the region’s Grands Crus are extremely significant not only for their quality, but also their compatibility with Asian cuisine. To illustrate their stylistic differences and explain their food matching potential, Thierry Fritsch, the Alsace Wine Council’s oenologist, provided an in-depth seminar on the Grands Crus wines from this north eastern corner of France.
With as many as 51 Grands Crus, Fritsch conceded that understanding and remembering the finer points of this top tier of wines from Alsace is not easy, but helped simplify the situation with some memorable analogies and soil-based classifications.Essentially, he emphasised that it is terroir which is vital to the varied and complex character of the Grands Crus of Alsace.

Click on the box above to watch the Asian Cuisine presentation 

A snapshot of Alsace
Alsace as a whole is not a particularly large region, with only 15,300 hectares in production, turning out on average 150 million bottles each year. There is a broad range of styles, and Alsace can even make rich, barrel-aged reds.
Stylistic diversity is attributed mainly to soil variation in Alsace. “You can find as many as 13 different soils, two types in the plains, and 11 on the foothills,” said Fritsch, and all the Grands Crus are based on the foothills.
To explain the reason for such soil diversity, Fritsch compared Alsace with a house of cards. “About 300 million years ago there was only one mountain in Alsace between what we now call the Vosges and the Black Forest in Germany and, during the creation of the Alps, the land rose quite slowly then fell down very quickly. Imagine a house of cards, which collapses, and when the cards fall down, you see a small part of each card. That’s what happened in Alsace, and the cards are the different types of soil.”
This in turn explains the varietal diversity in Alsace, because “it is impossible to adapt one type of grape to so many different types of soil.”
Climate, too, is of course important to the character of wines  from Alsace and there are beautiful natural conditions. The region is protected by the Vosges mountains, which act as a barrier to rain, which falls to the west. In short, the Vosges ensures a continental climate within Alsace, and, crucially, cool nights during the September ripening period, “preserving freshness and fruitiness in the grapes”.

Click on the box above to watch the Grand Cru Terroir presentation

Law and order
When it comes to the region’s legal framework, it is important to note that there are in fact three appellations in Alsace – AOC Alsace (or Vin d’Alsace), Crémant d’Alsace and Grand Cru d’Alsace. The latter – the focus of the seminar – was created in 1975, beginning with Schlossberg. Overall, today, 51 Grands Crus exist, representing 8% of the surface but only 4% of total production.
The Grands Crus wines are made almost exclusively from four noble grapes – Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer and Muscat d’Alsace – although Muscat d’Alsace makes up less than 3% of the total Grand Cru surface area, or 350 hectares, because it is very sensitive to rainfall during flowering.
Interestingly, in 2001, the law regarding Grand Cru d’Alsace was changed to allow growers to bottle Grands Crus wines without listing the name of the grape variety on it – just the vineyard. This “revolution”, as Fritsch described it, acknowledges that it is the site, the terroir, that is of primary importance in Grand Cru status.

Lastly on the laws of the land, it is important to note that all Grands Crus wines are produced according to strict rules to ensure yields are lower and grapes riper than standard Vin d’Alsace. It is vital that the vine roots “go very deep into the soil to search for the terroir,” Fritsch said, explaining the rationale for tough viticultural laws.

Fruity force
The diversity inherent in Grand Cru d’Alsace is, as noted, a result of varied terroir in the region. However, broad stylistic differences can be detected, and Fritsch divided the Grands Crus into two camps, which he termed “fruity” and “stony” wines.
Firstly, in fruity wines, the taste of the terroir is apparent not in the structure of the wine but on the nose, which is open and expressive. Such wines tend to come from granite soils, accounting for seven of the Grands Crus.
The most famous of these granite-based Grands Crus is Schlossberg. This Cru was in fact reduced in size from 120ha to 80ha to ensure greater uniformity in terroir, and one can expect full bodied, aromatic and open wines, with a firm acidity and great ageing potential.
The effect of granite in this Grand Cru was well illustrated with a Schlossberg Riesling from Albert Mann, 2004. The wine was open  and aromatic, with notes of grapefruit and honey, and a hint of petrol. The palate was round and rich, with some residual sugar, beautifully balanced by a mouth-cleansing acidity. Open, fruity and full-bodied, it was typical of Fritsch’s “fruity wines” from a granite substrate.

Stony story
Secondly, stony wines. Here the terroir exerts an influence on the structure of the wine, not the nose. For instance, we tasted a Riesling from the Osterberg Grand Cru, again from the 2004 vintage, and this time produced by Domaine Kientzler. This is the only Grand Cru based on a pure clay soil, which has a marked influence on wines grown here, giving them a slightly bitter edge. Certainly this wine tasted as expected, with a nose and palate of white flowers, flint, petrol, and a bitter, long finish. Somewhat austere in style, this example was still a little young. Neither better nor worse than the Schlossberg, it was just different.
Also designed to illustrate stony wines was a further Riesling, this time from the Grand Cru of Steinert. Produced by Domaine Rieflé in the unusually hot vintage of 2003, the wine highlighted the impact of a limestone soil. This soil type doesn’t lend a mineral edge to the wine but does give a strong backbone of acidity. You also rarely taste strong petrol notes on Riesling from calcareous soils. Hence the palate of this example centred on crystallised fruit with a refreshing acidity on the finish, but not the mineral or petrol notes of the previous Rieslings.
We also tasted other Alsace Grands Crus to illustrate the effect of schist and volcanic soils on the wines, reminding drinkers that Alsace Grands Crus wines are not only great, but wines with a diversity derived from terroir.

Grands Crus and food
The tasting continued but quickly took another direction. Fritsch focused not just on the character of various Alsace Grands Crus wines but also their suitability with Asian cuisine, which is notoriously difficult for wines to match. The core problem is the tannin in wine, which clashes with the chilli so prevalent in Asian cooking. However, ripe, full-bodied whites with a palate-cleansing acidity can handle spicy food. Nevertheless, just as there isn’t one style of wine from Alsace, there is far more than one type of Asian gastronomy.

Fritsch therefore picked a range of Asian food styles, beginning with those from Shanghai. “It is rich and perfumed,” he said of this cuisine, “with slow cooked dishes, not stir fries. You need a very rich wine with acidity and freshness.” For such a food style Fritsch chose a Muscat Grand Cru Spiegel, 2005 vintage, from Domaine Dirler-Cadé. “The wine is rich, with some fatness, and a touch of bitterness on the finish,” said Fritsch, pleased that it would work well with this food style.
Peking duck was the next dish, and Fritsch selected a Pinot Gris Grand Cru Vorbourg, 2004, from François Braun & Fils. With a nose of honey, dried fruit and a quince-flavoured palate, not forgetting a fresh, clean finish, this wine was an ideal match for this food.
Next he considered Cantonese food, a rich style of cooking involving steaming, stir-frying and thick sauces such as hoisin. For this, Fritsch poured a Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Kitterlé 2002, from Domaines Schlumberger. 2002, Fritsch explained, was a very good vintage in Alsace and the wines all tend to have an “amazing acidity”. This example didn’t disappoint, with a freshness that was quite unusual for a Gewurztraminer. It also displayed a touch of Botrytis, as well as flavours of roses, and a certain smokiness attributed to the volanic soil of this specific Grand Cru. It would certainly prove a perfect partner for Cantonese cooking.
To finish, Fritsch chose Thai food, and explained that there are seven different curries in Thailand, not two – red and green – as is commonly believed. For this type of gastronomy, Fritsch suggested a Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Vorbourg, by René Muré, from 2003, a particularly hot vintage in Alsace. With a rich, ripe, full body and a cleansing acidity, once more, this wine could happily handle the powerful flavours of Asian food.
As Fritsch summed up, when it comes to Asian food, you need a “wine with elegance, with freshness, ripe acidity, some fatness and no tannins”. Alsace, with its 51 Grands Crus, can provide wines with all this, and much more.