Alsace Rocks! In Vancouver

Recently VinsAlsace visited Vancouver and brought a range of their Alsatian wines from sparkling, light-bodied and dry wines to full-body, thicker, rich-flavoured wines. They wanted to let us know in this Trade tasting that the variation in the rocks and soil brings different personalities to their wines.  The soils are quite varied with granite, limestone, marl-limestone, clay-marl, marl-limestone-sandstone, sandstone, volcanic, and schist, plus more.  Thirteen different soils in all. There were about 26 wines in total at this tasting, all but two were white grape varieties. There were two bottles of Pinot Noir wines.

According to VinsAlsace:

For those of you unfamiliar with the Alsace region, it is located in the northeastern corner of France, next to Germany and above Switzerland.  The area is protected by the Vosges Mountains making it the second driest region in France.  It also receives lots of sunshine during the day and cool nights which allows for slow grape ripes that produce complex, aromatic and balanced wines. 89% of the wines produced in Alsace are white wines.

Below are my favourite white and sparkling wines from the Trade tasting.  Some of these wines are currently in our market and are marked with an “*“.

My Wine Tasting Notes

Jean-Louis Schoepfer Cremant d’Alsace Brut – (Clay – Limestone) A nice fresh apple nose. Light body, dry, with light frothy bubbles in the glass.  Creamy and biting bubbles on the palate.  Crisp apple and some apple skin tannin on the palate.  Medium-plus acidity. Medium length.  –

Zinck Cremant d’Alsace Brut * –  (Silty limestone) Light stone fruit and apple aromas.  Dry, fuller body with creamy, waxy bubbles.  Medium-plus acidity.  Crab apple and bruised apple on the palate with some bitterness on the finish. Medium length. –

Etienne Simonis Pinot Blanc Vieille Vignes 2021 – (Granite) Also contains some Auxerrois grapes. This is from a biodynamic winery.  This wine has light stony and apricot aromas.  Medium body, dry with a soft, smooth mouthfeel.  Honey and apricots on the palate.  Medium length. Tasty.

Domaine Loew Sylvaner “Verite” 2022 – (Sandstone, limestone, marl) It has a light, fresh stone fruit nose.  Medium-plus body with a smooth mouthfeel.  Medium acidity.  Ripe stone fruit flavours, plus some stone fruit skins.  Honeyed flavours. 

Domaine Bott Geyl AOC Alsace Grand Cru Sonnenglanz Pinot Gris, “l’Eclat du Soleil”, 2023 * – (Marly-limestone) This is a biodynamic winery.  This wine has a deep, clear golden colour.  Rich, ripe, sweet dried stone fruit nose.  Medium sweetness with a thicker smooth mouthfeel.  Full flavours of dried apricots, some apricot skin and light pepperiness.  Medium acidity.  Medium length with a dry finish.  Delicious. –

Allimant-Laugner AOC Crement d’Alsace * – (Limestone) a blend of 60% Pinot Blanc, 30% Riesling, and 10% Pinot Gris. It has light aromas of honey and stone fruits.  Dry, full body with a round mouthfeel.  High acidity.  Creamy small bubbles.  Apples and bruised apples on the palate.  Medium length.

Allimant-Laugner AOC Crement d’Alsace Rosé * – (Limestone) 100% Pinot Noir.  It has a pale peach colour.  Light strawberry aromas.  Dryish, fuller body. Higher acidity.  Creamy bubble.  Strawberries on the palate with some bitterness on the finish.  Medium length.

Domaine Wach AOC Alsace Gewurztraminer “Spleen”, 2023 – (Limestone) This is an orange (natural) wine.  It has a clear peach colour.  Mint and rose aromatics with more on the palate.  This wine is dry with medium acidity and medium-minus tannins.  A nice, geeky wine with structure. 

Allimant-Laugner AOC Alsace Grand Cru Praelatenberg Gewurztraminer, 2022 * – (Gneiss) Medium lemon colour.  Medium-minus intensity sweet aromatics; mint, honey, and stone fruits.  Medium-plus body with a sweet, smooth, thicker mouthfeel.  Mint and dried apricots on the palate.  Lower acidity. –

Domaine Bott Geyl AOC Alsace Gewurztraminer “Elements”, 2018 * – (Marly-limestone) A deeper lemon colour.  Light, dried apricot aromas.  It is off-dry with a light round mouthfeel but has a viscous feel.  Medium acidity.  Dried apricots and honeyed stone fruit on the palate.  Some spiciness and bitterness on the finish along with apricots and honey flavours.  –

Cellier l’interprofessional Vins Alsace Pfersigberg Alsace Grand Cru Gewurztraminer 1991 – A deeper lemon colour.  Light, but rich and ripe sulphured apricot and a hint of dill on the nose.  Dry, thick and smooth mouthfeel with lower acidity.  Ripe and rich dried stone fruits plus a touch of bitterness on the finish. Medium length.

Domaine Wach “Spleen” Pinot Noir 2022 – (Limestone) It has a deep, clear garnet colour.  Light intensity but with rich red cherry nose.  Dry, fuller body with a roundish mouthfeel.  Fruitiness; red fruit and red cherries on the palate. Medium tannins and acidity.  Medium length finishing with red fruit flavour and drying tannins. –

From my tasting notes, it looks like my preference is for grapes grown in limestone soils.