Alsace

Helfrich Cremant d’Alsace, France.

Grapes 100% Pinot Blanc Facts Bubbles from Alsace! Who knew!?!? Well, me…but that’s only because I’m a nerd for this stuff. Seriously though, Alsace barely gets a look-in on most restaurant wine lists and even less on retailers’ shelves. Shame really, since they tend to be some of my favorite white wines coming out of France. Petition your local Sommelier, I say!!! The Helfrich family, even though they’re “old school Alsace,” and farming from some…

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A Quick Vineyard Tour of Alsace for Rally Driver Petter Solberg. Those Poor Grapes!

  Rally driver Petter Solberg clearly must be more of a beer drinker, as is shown in these two videos by his blatant disregard for the delicate grapes of Alsace! The Norwegian Solberg started the day in 4th place, narrowly missed spectators when he careened off the road on the opening stage, through a vineyard, over the same road again, into another vineyard and then for a grand finale he took out an electrical pylon….

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Getting to Know Alsace Grand Cru’s

Alsace Grand Cru is a selected site in the Alsace AOC region of North-Eastern France.For wines to qualify for Grand Cru status, the yield of the vineyards have to be much lower than regular Alsace vineyards with wines only coming from a single named plot of land, of which must then be listed on the label. Regulations also govern the density of vine plantings, distance between rows, height of vegetation and the final alcohol content…

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Helfrich Steinklotz Alsace Grand Cru Pinot Gris 2008

Grape 100% Pinot Gris [Pee-no Gree] The word "Pinot", comes from the French word for pinecone" The grape grows in small pinecone shaped bunches on the vine. Grigio (Italian) or Gris (Everywhere Else) eludes to the unusual grey-blue color of the grapes.   Facts Even though Pinot Grigio and Pinot Gris are the same grape, the differences in the wines produced from these grapes can be huge. Pinot Grigio is the Italian version of the…

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