The Top 10 Bottles of French Grand Cru Wine

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There is another important reason to take these wines seriously. Many consumers wonder what that “mineral character” looks like so often sommeliers and wine critics talk about it. Alsace Grand Cru is an ideal way to discover it.

The #alsacerocks hashtag is a marketing tool for the wines of the region, but it is appropriate, as the best Grands Crus d’Alsace have intense notes of flint, chalk, wet stones and dry earth. This, added to the combination of generosity and freshness typical of Alsace whites, makes it a category apart.

“A true Grand Cru, it is a singularity of character with an always high quality”, explains Marie Zusslin, of Domaine Valentin Zusslin. “That’s why my idea is to show the uniqueness of each site. His Riesling Alsace Grand Cru Pfingstberg 2017 is a magnificent expression of this idea.

“Alsace has enormous geological diversity in a small area, and each Grand job function email database Cru has its own identity,” explains Eric Kientzler from the Kientzler estate in Ribeauville. “For example, the wines of our three Grands Crus de Riesling are very different, while the sites of Osterberg, Kirchberg de Ribeauville and Geisberg are neighboring. Combining elegance and minerality, its Riesling Alsace Grand Cru Kirchberg de Ribeauville 2018 is an ideal introduction to the Alsace Grand Cru category.

The Grands Crus d’Alsace are almost always white grape varieties, with the grape variety named on the label: gewurztraminer, muscat, pinot gris or riesling. Riesling is the most successful Alsace Grand Cru grape on the market because these wines are always dry and their lively acidity accentuates it.

For us, Domaine Weinbach Riesling Alsace Grand Cru Schlossberg Cuvée Ste Catherine is an almost perfect example of an Alsace Grand Cru, combining mineral subtlety, great concentration and length.