Feature Article
The barrel room of Scharffenberger Cellars became an Alsatian style wine wonderland in early February.
Alsace Comes to Anderson Valley
Alsatian Varietal Wines Shine in Appellation Spotlight
by
Thom Elkjer
February 15, 2007
The Festival derives its name from Alsace, a region in the northeastern corner of France. You can think of it as the New England of France: just as New England actually belonged to England in the past, Alsace once belonged to Germany (at which point it was called “Elsass”). And just like New England, Alsace is too cool to ripen the red grapes of Vitis vinifiera. That’s why 95% of Alsatian wine is white.
The four grapes which have long dominated in Alsace are Riesling, Gewurtztraminer, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc. Last year in the U.S., two of those grapes went on a tear. According to data released by Impact Databank, Riesling consumption jumped 29% (just behind Pinot Noir, at 30%), and Pinot Gris drinkers boosted that varietal 18% compared to 2005.
While Pinot Noir’s growth is already slowing, it appears that Pinot Gris is just getting revved up. In California alone, the production of Pinot Gris has been jumping an average of more than 50% a year for the past five years.
Anderson Valley produces superb Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris, and the valley’s top producers were all pouring in the “Alsatian marketplace”, created inside the barrel room at Scharffenberger Cellars. (They could have set it up outdoors this year, because the eerily spring-like weather which has prevailed in northern California this winter continued without a break.) The event also lured producers from other California appellations, from Oregon, and even the leading producer in Alsace itself, Domaines Schlumberger.
As it has since the 1970s, Navarro Vineyards led the Anderson Valley contingent. Winemaker Jim Klein spoke to the seminar audience, and the redoubtable Bill Mitchell poured a dozen or more wines at the Saturday afternoon Grand Tasting. Most other wineries from the valley offered just two or three current bottlings.
Klein explained that Navarro makes its Riesling and Gewurztraminer in giant wooden ovals which are broken in by using Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay for the first three years. He also revealed that he preserves frozen Pinot Gris grape juice at harvest and then adds a bit of it back before bottling the finished wine, to add freshness and also achieve a precise level of residual sugar. (Residual sugar is a measure of the concentration of unfermented sugar in wine, not a reference to sweet flavors or aftertaste).
Klein argued persuasively that too much sun is an enemy of Pinot Gris. “It cooks the fruit and takes out the aromatics, which are pretty much the essential features of the grape,” he said. He closed his remarks by opining that Pinot Gris makes the best wine match with Dungeness Crab -- hard to argue with on a weekend when the local market was featuring fresh Dungeness pulled from the ocean that day.
At the tasting, Mitchell wowed Gewurztraminer fans with tank samples of different lots of 2006, followed those with Navarro’s 2005 releases and then topped that off by pouring tastes from the winery’s 1996 Gewurz. “We found about 15 cases [of the 1996] that we didn’t know we had,” he shrugged with a smile. On my palate, this intoxicating wine offered all of the variety’s perfumed, fleshy sex appeal in an alluringly mature body. (Just $25 a bottle while supplies last.)
Josh Chandler, the second owner of venerable Lazy Creek Winery, was pouring his 2005 estate Gewurz and described it as “about 90% old vines.” Those were planted in the previous century by the winery’s founder Hans Kobler, a European who helped bring Alsatians to Anderson Valley in the first place. Chandler also debuted a Gewurztraminer with some unusual numbers: 19 brix, 9% alcohol and 2% residual sugar. He calls it “L’Aperitif,” but I could easily imagine pairing it with spicy Asian dishes. (For you Riesling fans, Lazy Creek’s 2005 Riesling, sourced from the Toulouse and Wiley vineyards, was one of the “buzz” wines of the tasting.)
Overall, the 2005 Alsatians from Anderson Valley showed very well, with good size and full flavor profiles in the Riesling, Gewurz and Gris. The vintage supported both the classic approach at Husch Vineyards (Gewurztraminer under 14% alcohol, with residual sugar near 1%) and the modern style at Handley Cellars (near-dry with 14.5% alcohol and noticeable oak). The only downside – if you can call it that – is that there just wasn’t much 2005 to enjoy because the vintage included a light crop.
It was a completely different story in 2006, when growers had to fight the instinct to let the vines carry all the fruit they had set after a solid month of late-winter rains. This phenomenon was widely reported for Pinot Noir, and it turns out that the same issue affected Alsatian whites – varieties which are usually in very short supply. “There was one Anderson Valley grower who was offering Gewurztraminer grapes to everyone in the valley who makes Gewurz,” recalls Larry Londer of Londer Vineyards, “but none of us wanted it. Overcropping that grape has a pretty direct effect on quality.”
This discipline alone is reason enough to seek out Anderson Valley Alsatians: the folks who make them are willing to experiment and innovate, but it appears that they’re not willing to compromise a reputation that it took decades to build.
~ Thom Elkjer, Regional Correspondent
To comment on Thom’s writings and thoughts, contact him at t.elkjer@appellationamerica.com
Photo © by Thom Elkjer
The four grapes which have long dominated in Alsace are Riesling, Gewurtztraminer, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc. Last year in the U.S., two of those grapes went on a tear. According to data released by Impact Databank, Riesling consumption jumped 29% (just behind Pinot Noir, at 30%), and Pinot Gris drinkers boosted that varietal 18% compared to 2005.
While Pinot Noir’s growth is already slowing, it appears that Pinot Gris is just getting revved up. In California alone, the production of Pinot Gris has been jumping an average of more than 50% a year for the past five years.
Anderson Valley produces superb Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris, and the valley’s top producers were all pouring in the “Alsatian marketplace”, created inside the barrel room at Scharffenberger Cellars. (They could have set it up outdoors this year, because the eerily spring-like weather which has prevailed in northern California this winter continued without a break.) The event also lured producers from other California appellations, from Oregon, and even the leading producer in Alsace itself, Domaines Schlumberger.
As it has since the 1970s, Navarro Vineyards led the Anderson Valley contingent. Winemaker Jim Klein spoke to the seminar audience, and the redoubtable Bill Mitchell poured a dozen or more wines at the Saturday afternoon Grand Tasting. Most other wineries from the valley offered just two or three current bottlings.
Klein explained that Navarro makes its Riesling and Gewurztraminer in giant wooden ovals which are broken in by using Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay for the first three years. He also revealed that he preserves frozen Pinot Gris grape juice at harvest and then adds a bit of it back before bottling the finished wine, to add freshness and also achieve a precise level of residual sugar. (Residual sugar is a measure of the concentration of unfermented sugar in wine, not a reference to sweet flavors or aftertaste).
Klein argued persuasively that too much sun is an enemy of Pinot Gris. “It cooks the fruit and takes out the aromatics, which are pretty much the essential features of the grape,” he said. He closed his remarks by opining that Pinot Gris makes the best wine match with Dungeness Crab -- hard to argue with on a weekend when the local market was featuring fresh Dungeness pulled from the ocean that day.
At the tasting, Mitchell wowed Gewurztraminer fans with tank samples of different lots of 2006, followed those with Navarro’s 2005 releases and then topped that off by pouring tastes from the winery’s 1996 Gewurz. “We found about 15 cases [of the 1996] that we didn’t know we had,” he shrugged with a smile. On my palate, this intoxicating wine offered all of the variety’s perfumed, fleshy sex appeal in an alluringly mature body. (Just $25 a bottle while supplies last.)
A Dwindling Supply of Gewurtztraminer?
One of the surprises of the Festival for many Alsatian fans was that Anderson Valley’s reputation as one of the country’s best appellations for Gewurztraminer is founded on precious few bottlings each year. Other appellations, including such unrecognized AVAs as nearby Lake County, actually grow more of the grape. Anderson Valley remains a prized region for Gewurz, however, because of its proven sites, older vines, and decades of expertise in vinifying the fruit.Josh Chandler, the second owner of venerable Lazy Creek Winery, was pouring his 2005 estate Gewurz and described it as “about 90% old vines.” Those were planted in the previous century by the winery’s founder Hans Kobler, a European who helped bring Alsatians to Anderson Valley in the first place. Chandler also debuted a Gewurztraminer with some unusual numbers: 19 brix, 9% alcohol and 2% residual sugar. He calls it “L’Aperitif,” but I could easily imagine pairing it with spicy Asian dishes. (For you Riesling fans, Lazy Creek’s 2005 Riesling, sourced from the Toulouse and Wiley vineyards, was one of the “buzz” wines of the tasting.)
Overall, the 2005 Alsatians from Anderson Valley showed very well, with good size and full flavor profiles in the Riesling, Gewurz and Gris. The vintage supported both the classic approach at Husch Vineyards (Gewurztraminer under 14% alcohol, with residual sugar near 1%) and the modern style at Handley Cellars (near-dry with 14.5% alcohol and noticeable oak). The only downside – if you can call it that – is that there just wasn’t much 2005 to enjoy because the vintage included a light crop.
It was a completely different story in 2006, when growers had to fight the instinct to let the vines carry all the fruit they had set after a solid month of late-winter rains. This phenomenon was widely reported for Pinot Noir, and it turns out that the same issue affected Alsatian whites – varieties which are usually in very short supply. “There was one Anderson Valley grower who was offering Gewurztraminer grapes to everyone in the valley who makes Gewurz,” recalls Larry Londer of Londer Vineyards, “but none of us wanted it. Overcropping that grape has a pretty direct effect on quality.”
This discipline alone is reason enough to seek out Anderson Valley Alsatians: the folks who make them are willing to experiment and innovate, but it appears that they’re not willing to compromise a reputation that it took decades to build.
~ Thom Elkjer, Regional Correspondent
To comment on Thom’s writings and thoughts, contact him at t.elkjer@appellationamerica.com
Photo © by Thom Elkjer
