If you've read a lot of our wine reviews, you may have figured out that we haven't really gotten into Burgundy wines just yet, if only because they are quite expensive in the USA.
But whenever we receive one in a wine box, like our Picked by Wine.com subscription, we get excited to try another. Les Hauts Pruliers Nuits St George was one such bottle, and we cracked it open right away.
Although this one is on the expensive side, it made for a rather nice bottle all the same.
Alsace is one of our personal favorite wine regions in France and has a history as unique as its grapes are flavorful.
It may not be the first choice for visitors exploring French wine regions, I will admit (as it often feels secondary to nearby Champagne and Burgundy), but for those who like fine Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, quaint towns, and world-class Christmas Markets in the holiday season, it is really hard to skip over a trip to Alsace.
But, as with planning trips to any wine region, figuring out the finer details of an Alsace wine trip has many things to keep in mind. So we have you covered here with key details to know when visiting Alsace for wine tasting!
It isn't everyday that we stumbled upon aged Pinot Gris out in the wild. But one day while browsing a favorite wine store of ours we stumbled upon a Trimbach Pinot Gris Reserve from 2017- holding about nine years of age since harvest!
As we have a number of Pinot Gris in our cellar that we are aging, we thought we'd give this one a try to see how a mid-level bottle from a top-tier producer was developing after nearly a decade. Although we expect the premium bottles to be even more intense, we were not let down with this one!
When we booked a wine trip to France, we decided to head east out of Paris and visit Champagne and Alsace on the same itinerary.
Part of this was purely out of necessity, as we were traveling onward to Germany and had to end in Munich, so heading east made sense to easily connect to onward trains. Another part was that it was Christmas time, and we wanted to check out the iconic Christmas markets in Alsace and nearby.
But, in reality, we booked both on the same itinerary because we could- the two regions aren't that far apart (about 2-3 hours by train/car) and starting in Champagne was an easy ~50 minute train ride from Paris.
In retrospect, however, hitting two major French wine regions in one itinerary was a lot to say the least. So much so that we had to make sacrifices in both, particularly when it came to buying wine to bring home.
So in this one, we thought we'd share some pros and cons of combining Champagne and Alsace into a single trip, including what we liked and what we would've perhaps done differently.
When it comes to interesting and, dare we say, somewhat robust rose wines, we almost always look towards Tavel in France to enjoy bottles made with the Rosé de Saignée method.
This method effectively is bleeding off juice that is macerating on the grape skins as pigmentation is building. So rather than, say, a soft direct press or blending, this one produces wines that are similar to their red counterparts, but just a bit lighter overall.
Tresor des Sables from Les Vignerons de Tavel was one such bottle, which incorporates a bit of pressing into the mix as well, and is a beautiful rose, or, dare we say, just a really, really light red.
It's not every day you can crack open a 1975 Sauternes-Barsac. Truth be told, we have never had one this old before. But after finding this one tucked away at a bottle shop we frequent for a rather reasonable price, we decided to give it a go.
Before even opening this one, we noticed something interesting- the cork had a small label on it that it was recorked at the winery in 1999. This was something we'd never seen before and gave us a hint that, for 24 years at least, the wine was cellared directly at the estate. After that, well, we put it on faith that it was stored well enough in the years in between.
So, what's a 50+ year old Sauternes-Barsac like? Let's dive into this beauty.
After returning home from our trip to Champagne, we, naturally, started buying more Champagne.
This wasn't so much because we didn't buy a lot while there (we did), but rather that many top producers were readily available to us at home- often not for much more than we could buy them in France. So we waited until we returned, grabbed a few bottles from producers we wanted to try but missed when on the road, and quickly popped them enjoy.
Pierre Paillard's Bouzy Grand Cu Les Parcelles 2021 (labeled XXI) was one such bottle. Although we enjoyed this one, we do have to admit, it was a bit on the pricier side for our liking.
Veuve Clicquot has a reputation of being an iconic Champagne producer. From the easily recognizable yellow label, to legions of diehard followers (and critics), their non-vintage Champagne can be found and enjoyed the world over.
While we personally enjoy the yellow label bottle ourselves, we do recognize that it does come at a fair premium for what you get- especially in the United States with import markups added.
After visiting Veuve Clicquot during our Champagne wine tour, we tried another bottle, Veuve Clicquot Extra Brut Extra Old No. 4 that became our new favorite from the producer. Why is that? Well, it is a blend of old, reserve wines only (the 4th edition had wines from 1996 to 2014 only), and, given that it is extra brut, has a fair bit less residual sugar than the standard bottle- all for not that much more in price (in the US, at least).
So if you are a critic of the yellow label for any reason (or are just a fan), be on the lookout for this one!
Is there any wine region more famous than Champagne? This is debatable, of course, as there are several regions that could fit that bill. But at the end of the day, Champagne is one of the most popular regions for wine in the world, and it is easy to see why- producers here make the world's best sparkling wine!
If you are planning a trip to Champagne, there are many things you may want to consider before you go. We've got you covered in this guide with tips from our visit!
We are big fans of Alsatian white blends, as the flavorful grapes in the region can really offer robust and, dare we say, decadent wines.
One bottle we tried that we quite loved was Christophe Mittnacht's Terres d'etoiles Gyotaku- a blend of Pinot Blanc, Gewurztraminer, Muscat, and Riesling. While this one was perhaps not as intense as other Alsatian white blends we've had, it was a refreshing bottle at a reasonable price point all around.
We could get used to this!