By Fred Delkin

        The French Burgundy region and its premier grape, Pinot Noir, are properly credited for providing the original challenge and inspiration for creating the current Oregon wine industry.  However, another French wine region, Alsace, doesn’t get as much credit as it deserves for providing both vines and knowledge to Oregon vintners.

The soil and climate in this northeastern corner of France are remarkably similar to Oregon’s Willamette Valley.  Yet Alsatian vintners have devoted themselves almost exclusively to white wines rather than the scarlet glory of premier Pinot Noir.  Oregon’s Papa Pinot, David Lett of Eyrie Vineyards, first caught the wine world’s attention in the early ‘70's by trumping the finest Burgundian reds in blind tastings.  While his Pinot Noirs were instrumental in proving northwest Oregon was a viable destination for would be vintners, Lett’s earliest vineyard plantings also included Noir’s white cousin, Pinot Gris, an Alsatian star.  Now almost a majority of northwestern Oregon vineyards are substantial producers of this grape, whose first fermented bottlings were promoted as “salmon wine.”

 Alsatian Pinot Gris is full bodied in taste and its depth and richness are reminiscent of white Burgundy (Chardonnay) and a far cry from the generally limp, or bland, Pinot Grigio Italians create with the same grape.  Oregon vintners achieve full flavor similar to that of Alsatian Gris bottlings.

Another Pinot Cousin Comes to Oregon

Sales success with Pinot Gris has inspired Willamette Valley plantings in the past decade of another Alsatian white wine source, Pinot Blanc.  We sampled this wine in Alsace prior to its invasion of Oregon and were disappointed in its blandness compared to that region’s Pinot Gris.
However, this grape seems to produce fuller flavors here and local plantings are increasing.  

Riesling is the star performer in Alsatian wine ranks, yet Oregon vintners were unable to achieve the distinction of French renditions from this source and the grape fell out of favor with a general antipathy on the part of the premium wine market.  Gewurztraminer is a popular grape in Alsatian vineyards and French vintners reach this varietal’s full potential with wines that offer complex and spicy flavors that the few Oregon plantings cannot create.  

As a guest of prominent Alsatian producer, Hubert Trimbach, we spent several days in his homeland and developed a profound respect for both the region’s wines and the charm of their setting.  There are over 100 small villages here nestled against the backdrop of the Vosges mountains, These hamlets have a fairy tale quality, with half-timbered houses and ancient castles.  One of the latter is home to the parental chapter (established in the 1600's) of the Brotherhood of the Knights of the Vine...now an international body of wine lovers.  We were fortunate enough  to attend a meeting of this cognoscenti in company with some wine columnists prominent in the American press.  

This took place in the castle basement of the original chapter, formerly a dungeon.  A panel of prominent Alsatian winemakers presented us with a prolonged tasting of all the major local varietals at their Grand Cru -ated best.  In our humble opinion, white wine simply will never get any better elsewhere on earth.

Alsace is a region reflecting occupation over the centuries by both France and Germany.  It almost borders the German Rhineland, though its climate is slightly milder for vineyard agriculture.  While the world-class qualities of Alsatian white wine production have been obvious for centuries, it has only been in the past two decades that some Alsatian producers   have begun experimenting with red Pinot Noir as a resource.  Trimbach knows Oregon wine history well and admires what our wineries have achieved with this grape.  He and other cohorts are quietly working to produce top level Pinot Noir after being daunted for centuries by the achievments of their Burgundian brethren.

 Alsace should be a prime destination for any fan of the fermented grape.  The picturesque countryside is dotted with winery tasting rooms, village inns offer affordable lodging with no Hilton overtones and all dining spots are dedicated to the local cuisine.  If you like white wine, here is the Holy Grail.  And while you’re there, wrap your lips around a flagon of the local sparkling wine, Cremant d’ Alsace, made in the same painstaking way as Champagne with a blend of white grape sources.  This beverage is an appropriate base for toasting a region that helped mightily to inspire Oregon’s approach to wine worldom.

© 2004 Oregon Magazine