NV Crémant d’Alsace Brut Emotion

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”).

The domaine began estate bottling about four generations ago, but the Baur family can boast of ancestors dabbling in winemaking and the sale of wine as far back as the 18th century. The estate owns 17 hectares (3.5 hectares in the Eichberg, 1.1ha in the Pfersigberg, and 0.7ha in the Brand, three famous Alsace Grand Crus), all organically farmed (and Ecocert certified) since 2009. Crémant production amounts to one sixth of Baur’s annual output (20,000 bottles of Crémant made out of 120,000 total bottles produced a year). Baur is becoming known for their Rieslings from the Brand and Eichberg Grand Crus and its Gewürztraminer Pfersigberg, also a Grand Cru. Almost all the wines are kept at least six months on the lees. Owner Armand Baur and his son Charles actually re-examine by themselves all the grapes selected in the vineyards when they arrive at the winery.