Alsace has a fascinating history with its mix of French and German culture, bounded by the Rhine on the east and the Vosges mountains on the west.
Strasbourg, in the Bas Rhin, is the capital of Alsace, once the richest city of the Holy Roman Empire and still home to many European institutions.
The city’s art and culture flourished here with its gastronomy for over 2000 years and is now home to 4 Michelin starred and 46 other Michelin rated restaurants.
It is a city that you will fall in love with all year round no matter time and season of your visit.
Heading south, to the Haut Rhin, the next stop is Colmar. The town is surrounded by vineyards and called "little Venice" for its beautiful houses, the canals, and the Grand Rue with its restaurants, boutiques, historical architecture and beautiful fountains; it was even spared both by Nazi and Allied bombers in WWII.
Colmar is probably the most picturesque European city and not only famous for its wine culture and gastronomy but, for the designer of the Statue of Liberty, Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi who was born here in 1834.
It is the perfect location to set up camp before your journey begins on the Route du Vin heading through the lush vineyards on cobbled streets of fairy tale villages with their half-timbered houses.
It will start with a map and, an explanation of the different rocks and terroir before he fills your glass with delicious wine.
Did you know, that in Alsace there are 53 appellations, 1 regional Alsace AOC, another for the local fizz lovers, Cremant d’Alsace, and 51 Grand Crus.
Rémy’s wines are exciting and pure expressions of the diverse soil of the region.
His Brandhof vineyards are on limestone, then Duttenberg is clay-marne, Kritt is gravelly. He has three Grand Cru vineyards, Wiebelsberg, which is on sandstone that gives floral Rieslings, Moenchberg, which is on granite and fossil rich limestone that produces succulent wines, whilst the Kastelberg produces probably the region’s most exciting mineral wines on 460 million year old Steige schist.
All of these wines are delicious, mouth-watering and incredibly food-friendly.
The hot summer helps to develop floral and ripe fruit notes, while the unique soil types of each vineyard bring out spicy and mineral characters.
For seafood dishes, we would like to recommend our Les Graves 2017 Riesling.
It is full of energy with aromas of white peach, lime and a salty mineral finish that works beautifully with smoked fish, salmon and creamy spiced chicken dishes.
With an aged dry Grand Cru Riesling, such as our Moenchberg, try roasted pork belly or matured goat cheese. These intense rich and powerful wines work magnificently from the finest cold cuts to complex lamb dishes.
The locals usually enjoys Pinot Gris with salmon and veal dishes but, a rich complex one, like Rémy's Brandhof Pinot Gris, with its dried fruit and honeyed notes works magically with foie gras, pates, and South Asian dishes.
Risottos, quiche, ham and cheese pizzas pair well with our aged Kritt Pinot Blanc. It is often overlooked, even though, it's a versatile food wine with its medium-body, elegant fruit notes and fresh acidity.
Our Muscat’d Alsace opens up with spicy, floral aromas and offers an intense grapey notes. It is a characterful, elegant and gastronomic wine, which can be paired dishes that other Alsace wines struggle, such as fruit salads and Asparagus. The classic dish would be white asparagus in a creamy, buttery sauce or smoked ham.
Gewurztraminer is perfect with Asian cuisine and also with smoked and aged cheese.
When you visit Remy, he is not only going take you on a journey around the diverse terroir of his beloved Alsace but, he will be your gourmet guide and will recommend the classic and sometimes out of the box food pairings with his wines.
You can walk through the vineyards with him, whilst he takes you back in time to his grandmother’s kitchen, baking kuglof.
And finally his 2006 Wiebelsberg Grand Cru Selection Grains Nobles paired with dessert or cheese.
This rare and special sweet wine is made entirely with botrytise grapes, can be enjoyed on its own, with apricot tart or an aged Munster, that develops a strong pungent aroma that accompany the deep flavours of the wine.
Santé!
