2012 Chasselas Vieilles Vignes

This estate owns 17 hectares of vines, of which 5.5 are in the Rangen, one of Alsace’s best grand cru vineyards. Bernard Schoffit bought his piece of the Rangen in 1984 and made his first wine in 1986, a Pinot Gris); the family estate nowproduces 100,000 bottles a year. According to Alexandre Schoffit, Bernard's son, the difficult 2012 and 2013 vintages were characterized by low yields (59 hectoliters per hectare for the regional Alsace wines and a very low 28 for the grand crus). The Riesling Tradition and the Gewürztraminer Cuvée Caroline are Schoffit's two most commercially important bottlings.

Alexandre Schoffit told me that while some producers have been negative on their 2012 wines, "it’s a far better vintage than people give it credit for, and it produced a lot of wonderful food wines." He went on: "I actually prefer 2013 to 2012 because of its higher acidity, but I think each vintage will have its supporters.” Readers need to know that Domaine Schoffit has done a 180-degree turn in the last 15 years, going from what were among the sweetest wines in Alsace to wines that are among the highest in acidity in the region. The newer style is much easier to match with food, and most of these wines also function well as aperitifs.