2015 Riesling Brand Grand Cru

The estate was founded in the 18th century in Eguisheim, but the family’s farming (and livestock breeding) history dates back further still, according to Arnaud Baur. In fact, the estate began specializing in wine only after World War II, when estate bottling was initiated. Armand Baur graduated from the Dijon Oenology faculty and took over from his father Charles at the beginning of the 1980s, and the estate is now run by young Arnaud Baur, who trained in Toulouse with stages in Tokaji, Hungary and Anderson Valley, California. The estate specializes in Crémant production, but makes a very solid range of Alsace dry and sweet wines. I especially like the old-style, almost cartoonish, very colorful labels.

The estate was founded in the 18th century in Eguisheim, but the family’s farming (and livestock breeding) history dates back further still, according to Arnaud Baur. In fact, the estate began specializing in wine only after World War II, when estate bottling was initiated. Armand Baur graduated from the Dijon Oenology faculty and took over from his father Charles at the beginning of the 1980s, and the estate is now run by young Arnaud Baur, who trained in Toulouse with stages in Tokaji, Hungary and Anderson Valley, California. The estate specializes in Crémant production, but makes a very solid range of Alsace dry and sweet wines. I especially like the old-style, almost cartoonish, very colorful labels.

Located in the very pretty town of Eguisheim, the tasting room at Charles Baur is always alive and hopping, abuzz with visitors tasting away the estate wines by the glass for a small fee. It’s a happy scene, and one that speak volumes of the magic that is wine. Though perhaps not the most concentrated Alsatian wines you’ll ever drink, Charles Baur’s wines are very well made and clearly showcase the different terroirs they are made in. I would also point out that the entry-level wines are usually very successful too; for example, I tasted few more enjoyable or better entry-level wines in Alsace this year than Baur’s 2015 Sylvaner and 2016 Muscat, wines that it’s almost impossible to resist gulping down all at once. The estate owns roughly 17 hectares of vines and their 2014, 2015 and 2016 production is all officially certified as organic (or “agriculture biologique”).