Alsace:
The 2015s and Late-Released 2014s

BY IAN
D’AGATA | MARCH 23, 2017

I find
it remarkable that a region so steeped in tradition and history is also as
forward-thinking as Alsace, with its wine producers and lawmakers willing to
work together to break new ground. To cite just one example: how many times
have you heard that it is impossible in the modern age to identify and classify
the top sites in a wine production area? Well, in 1975 Alsace began that
complicated process by delimiting its grand cru vineyards. And although the way
those sites were drawn up was not beyond criticism (see below), at least a
workable, easy-to-grasp classification was devised. In fact, this step has
proven so successful that even those estates that most strenuously resisted it initially
have finally caved in. Trimbach and Hugel, for example, are now producing wines
whose labels clearly indicate either the name of a grand cru or a specific
site.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1490284687045-The+hillsides+at+Turckheim+and+the+Zind+Humbrecht+winery_typical+alsace+view_Typical+alsace+hillside+vineyards+and+homes.jpg"> The hillsides at Turckheim and the Zind Humbrecht winery 

Another
example of Alsace’s pragmatic, let’s-get-it-done approach is how the region,
famous for its outstanding late-harvest sweet wines, went about creating production
guidelines for these bottlings, establishing the rules by which Vendanges Tardives
and Séléction de Grains Nobles wines can be made (with the significant contribution
of the late, great Johnny Hugel). In other countries, such as Italy for
example, it’s unclear to consumers most of the time whether they are drinking a
sweet wine made from air-dried or late-harvested grapes, or both.

Most
important, in the 1960s Alsace identified its noblest grapes and has
steadfastly remained anchored to the varieties and wines for which the region
has always been best known. When the international trend of the late 1970s and
‘80s toward planting Chardonnay and other international varieties reached
Alsace, it was intelligently stopped cold. Clearly, given the region’s northerly
location, planting Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot was never an issue, but Chardonnay
has never been elevated to grand cru status in Alsace either, even though some
of the region’s producers did push
for this possibility. Thus Alsace has avoided the plight of many other wine regions
of the world that now make copious amounts of essentially interchangeable Chardonnays,
Cabernets and Merlots that no one wants to drink.

A New Category of Premier Crus

Alsace’s
bent for moving forward while hanging onto tradition is also illustrated by the
new premier cru classification now in
the works. Clearly, the grand cru system has one major flaw. For the most part,
most of Alsace’s grand cru vineyards are far too large to offer truly site-specific
wines. Furthermore, almost every wine-producing village in Alsace felt it
needed to have its own grand cru, which stretched the grand cru classification
to include sites that aren’t really of top caliber and thus ultimately
diminished its value (both commercially and intellectually). Moreover, other
high-quality sites went unrecognized, such as the many clos (walled vineyards), as well as those sites that deserved better than the simple lieu-dit names by which they are
referred to today.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1490284835678-geologic+strata+in+a+typical+alsace+vineyard_The+typical+granite+soils+of+the+Brand+Grand+Cru_typical+calcaire+Mushelkalk+soil+of+the+Clos+Windsbuhl_The+typical+calcaire+oolithique+of+the+Goldert+Grand+Cru.jpg"> 

Geologic strata in a typical Alsace vineyard (in the round circle), the typical granite soils of the Brand Grand Cru, the typical calcaire Mushelkalk soil of the Clos Windsbuhl, the typical calcaire oolithique soil of the Goldert Grand Cru Alsace
is now moving to create its own set of premier cru vineyards, in the manner of
Burgundy. One might argue that rather than just elevate the best lieux-dits to premier cru status, it
might have been better to also re-examine the current grand crus, many of which
should probably be reduced in size by cleaving off portions that would more
appropriately be premier crus. Clearly this would be a highly unpopular – and
politically impossible – move. As it is, many Alsace wines that say grand cru on
the label don’t fetch especially high prices, and deservedly so. My hope is
that one day Alsace’s lawmakers will have the courage to take a long, hard look
at the current grand cru breakdown and make the kinds of changes that are
necessary for Alsace to further improve its wines and increase its wine sales
around the world.

In any event, the new premier crus will join the
already established categories of regional Alsace A.C.s, Alsace Crémant, and
the region’s 51&nbsp;grand crus. Currently, the Alsace Vintners Association is accumulating dossiers to support the
more than 100 requests for premier cru classification that have been made thus
far. For vineyards ultimately promoted to premier cru status, requirements as
to yields, planting density and minimum alcohol levels will be stricter than those
required for Alsace A.C., for example. A series of tastings organized by
each village and conducted by the local winemakers is also part of the process.
In order for a lieu-dit site to be elevated
to premier cru status, its wines would need to exhibit the characteristics of
that site in every vintage, warm or cold.

The
current expectation is that the first premier cru sites will be named within
the next five to ten years, a period of time that many estate owners believe is
far too long in the Internet Age. In any event, lieux-dits such as Westhalten’s Lutzenthal and Turckheim’s Heimbourg
deserve to be promoted to premier cru status based on the quality of the wines
that have come from those vineyards in recent years.

The 2015 and 2014 Vintages

Possibly
for the first time ever, I came away from my tastings of Alsace’s new releases last
summer wondering about virtually every producer’s incessant – dare I say
obsessive – drive to highlight even the minutest differences between their terroirs, which results in an almost endless
lineup of different wines every year. To be clear, I am one of the world’s
staunchest defenders of terroir differences
in wine (when they are actually meaningful and not just a marketing ploy) but
this year I was left scratching my head. Might Alsace’s producers be taking a
good thing a bit too far, I wondered. For example, in 2014 there were producers
who felt it necessary to still bottle four or five different Gewürztraminers in
a vintage that is the absolute worst in memory for the variety. Why produce so
many different 2014 Gewürzes and have a very poor entry-level wine to boot?
Other estates insist on making four or five different Rieslings every year from
obscure lieux-dits that offer little
in the way of true diversity or are characterized by nuances so faint that they
will be lost on 99% of the world’s wine lovers. Alsace runs the risk of turning
what is a real plus (the ability to make recognizably different wines from
multiple distinctive terroirs) into a
minus. Simply too many producers insist on making numerous site-designated
bottlings even in poor vintages in which declassifying most of this fruit would
help them make much better entry-level wine.

The 2015 and 2014 vintages weren’t especially easy on growers and winemakers.
While there were no disease pressures in 2015, the growing season was hot and
dry and many wines betray difficulties with water stress. In contrast, 2014 was
plagued by generally cold weather, as well as significant problems with the
Japanese fruit fly Drosophila suzukii,
a pest that eats red-colored fruits, thereby causing acetic rot in grape varieties
like Pinot Noir, Gewürztraminer, the red-berried Muscats and even Pinot Gris.
Overall, the wines of 2015 are showy and easy to understand while the 2014s are
high-acid wines. Some of latter – especially Rieslings – are more perfumed and
refined than growers and critics originally expected.&nbsp;<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1490285030415-Tasting+at+Albert+Mann.jpg"> Tasting at Albert Mann 

The
2015 vintage was very dry and hot throughout most of the growth cycle. From the
beginning of May to August 18 there was barely over an inch of rain. Not
surprisingly, in 2015 disease pressure was scarce, and the harvest began and
ended about ten days earlier than usual. For example, at Ostertag the last
Rieslings grapes were brought in on September 30 while normally they are picked
in mid-October. Extreme ripeness was an issue in 2015, with many producers
worried about bottling fully dry wines pushing 15% alcohol or more. A
precipitous drop in total acidity in the grapes was another concern, given the
overall hot growing conditions, but wines with insufficient acidity are less
common than initially feared. Clearly, older vines with deep root systems and
those vineyard sites with at least some clay soil were at a clear advantage in
2015.&nbsp;

Yeasts
also had a tough time in 2015, with
most producers reporting slower-than-usual fermentations. In the end, 2015 is a
vintage of broad, large-scaled wines, and the generally small, thick-skinned berries
made for some truly mammoth bottlings. Look for the outstanding Gewürztraminers
from this vintage – they are truly some of the best ever made in Alsace. Quite
simply, 2015 is close to a once-in-a-lifetime vintage for Gewürztraminer. In a
similar vein, the Sylvaners are some of the richest and showiest in memory.

There
is little question Riesling did best in 2014.
For the most part, the 2014s are energetic, dynamic and vertical – rather than
horizontal – wines. Think Gothic steeples, not Baroque domes. The secret to
success in 2014 was very strict selection of the grapes in the vineyard and on
the sorting table, with careful elimination of berries damaged by the fruit
flies, a time-consuming and costly process. Not surprisingly, Gewürztraminer, a
variety that likes heat and hates rain, had a horrible time in the cool
conditions of 2014. Most of these wines are eminently forgettable.&nbsp;

Neither
2014 nor 2015 will be remembered as great vintages for late-harvest wines as noble
rot was scarce in both years. In 2014, either rain washed away whatever rot
there was or producers didn’t want to risk leaving their grapes on the vines
long enough for it to form. Two thousand fifteen was simply too hot and dry for
botrytis cinerea to appear. But 2015 did produce some rich, unctuous sweet
wines marked mainly by passerillage (air-drying
of the grapes directly on the vine).

I
tasted the wines reviewed in this report at the wineries during three weeks of
visits in August and September of 2016. I also tasted many additional wines
courtesy of CIVA (the Conseil Interprofessionel des Vins d’Alsace) in Colmar
that will be featured in an upcoming supplement to this article.

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