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Vorbourg added to AOC Alsace Grand Cru appellation for Pinot Noir
In a positive move for Alsace Pinot Noir producers, Vorbourg has been named the third AOC Alsace appellation awarded Grand Cru status for the red grape.
In 2022 France’s appellation body, the National Institute of origin and quality (INAO) formally approved the addition of Pinot Noir to the list of varieties that are permitted in Alsace’s Grand Cru Kirchberg de Barr and Grand Cru Hengst.
The move officially ratified Pinot Noir Grands Crus from these two prestigious terroirs for the 2022 vintage, a 20 year journey according to red wine producers in the region.
Announced this month, Grand Cru Vorbourg has now been recognised as a terroir on which Pinot Noir can be produced within the AOC Alsace Grand Cru appellation. The decision was decreed on 4 July 2024 and published in the Journal Officiel on 7 July 2024.
Vorbourg was first included in the Alsace Grand Cru appellation in 1992, but this is the first time Pinot Noir grown in the village has been permitted to be labelled as Grand Cru.
Only these three AOCs can produce both white and still red Grand Cru wines from the French region. Currently, there are 51 AOC Alsace Grand Crus, 48 of which can make Grand Cru wines from just five grape varieties (Gewurztraminer, Muscat, Pinot Gris and Riesling – plus Sylvaner, which was added by the INAO in May 2022).
The official decision confirms the quality of Pinot Noir grown on this terroir. Foulques Aulagnon, export marketing manager for the Comité Interprofessionnel des Vins d’Alsace, told db: “Grand Cru represents the top of our wines according to our hierarchy, so in terms of message, the Pinot Noir which is now allowed to be claimed as a Grand Cru Vorbourg is among the best and the most highly reputed red wine from Alsace.”
Aulagnon believes that while the price per bottle is likely to see slow growth in export markets, as consumers take time to get behind the relatively new concept, “in terms of image it could be very positive” for the success of Alsace Pinot Noir.
Grand Cru Vorbourg extends over the communes of Rouffach (95%) and Westhalten, sitting at the foot of the Grand Ballon and Petit Ballon d’Alsace at between 210 and 300 meters above sea level. Its 73.6 hectares occupy the jutting hillside (“vor Berg” in German), with a south/southeast exposure.