Alsace wines
Alsace wines
We’ve been here before. We’ve talked about this. We know Thanksgiving dinner is culinary chaos.
Turkey, Tofurky, or possibly ham, served with dishes of stuffing, green beans, sweet potatoes or yams, Brussels sprouts, mashed or baked Idaho, russet, or Yukon Gold potatoes, cranberry sauce, and butternut, acorn or pumpkin squash. Savory next to sweet next to fatty next to sour next to buttery next to bitter next to creamy next to tart. A dinner you could serve in five separate courses.
We like our Thanksgiving dinner with all its dishes on a table before us. And we like servings from its dishes all on our Thanksgiving plates. We’ve asked before which wine could bring harmony to our Thanksgiving chaos of American flavors. And the answers are Beaujolais-Villages and Cru Beaujolais. But what if you’d also like white wine with your Thanksgiving dinner?
The answer is pinot gris from the wine region of Alsace in the northeast of France. Which isn’t like pinot grigio from the Alto Adige and Friuli regions in the northeast regions of Italy. Yes, pinot gris and pinot grigio are the same grape. But, no, pinot gris doesn’t taste like pinot grigio. The terroirs—the earth and climate where the grapes grow — make pinot gris a world apart from pinot grigio. Where the character of pinot grigio is light and bright, that of pinot gris is rich but with minerality and acidity. Where the primary aromas and flavors of pinot grigio are citrusy, those of pinot gris are stone and tropical as well as citrus fruits. Which is the kind of character and quality of fruit which makes pinot gris ideal company for the panoply of flavors of Thanksgiving dinner.
On the east side of Alsace is the Rhine River. On the west side are the Vosges Mountains. The vineyards of Alsace are primarily along the foothills of the Vosges, where there’s a great variety of soils, including those of granite, limestone, sandstone, clay, loam, loess, and volcanic ash. The wine growing villages of the region create a geographical ribbon up the foothills of the Vosges, with the Haut-Rhin vineyards to the south and the Bas-Rhin vineyards to the north. Alsace also has vineyards on its plains, where the soils are alluvial. This geological complexity contributes to the distinctive richness of character, and quality of Alsace pinot gris. The region’s climate is also ideal for growing wine grapes, with little but sufficient rainfall, lots of sunshine, warm summers and long, dry autumns.
Like the reds of Beaujolais-Villages and Cru Beaujolais, pinot gris from Alsace is a perfect foil for the culinary chaos of Thanksgiving. They’ll play along nicely with all of the foods on your Thanksgiving plate. They’ll make your Thanksgiving dinner taste even better.
Which Pinot Gris for Thanksgiving Dinner?
The challenge of serving pinot gris from Alsace with your Thanksgiving dinner is locating pinot gris from Alsace at your local wine shops. These two wines offer the kind of quality worthy of your Thanksgiving table and appear at independent, local wine shops.
Domaine Barmes-Buecher, Rosenberg, Pinot Gris, 2019, about $30 (farmed biodynamically): The Rosenberg vineyard is in the Wettolsheim appellation in the Haut-Rihn of the Vosges Mountains. Its clay, limestone, and sandstone soils make for this ripe, round, and elegant wine.
Laurent Bannwarth, Obermorschwihr, Pinot Gris, “Nature,” 2019, about $31 (farmed biodynamically): Made from the loess, loam, and limestone soils of the Obermorschwihr vineyards in the Haut-Rihn. An irresistibly charming gourmandise. Unfined and unfiltered, with no added sulfur.
