Cremant d’Alsace is becoming more and more important for the Alsatian wine producers. During our spring wine tour in Alsace, we learned that the sparkling wine now accounts for 35% of total wine sales in Alsace.
Is that a problem, I wondered. “No,” replies Mélanie Pfister, a wine producer in Dahlenheim in northern Alsace. “If you have something that sells well, you should take advantage of it.”
For some producers, crémant represents more than 50% of their sales. It has been a steep upward curve for Crémant d’Alsace. In 1997, the bubbles accounted for only 14% of the sales of Alsatian wines.
Many grape varieties are permitted in Alsace, which also means variation in the sparkling crémant. During our tour, we tasted Crémant d’Alsace made from pinot blanc (sometimes blended with auxerrois), chardonnay (only permitted for crémant, not still wines), pinot gris, riesling, and blanc de noir from 100% pinot noir, the only permitted red grape in Alsace. All have their specific character, and of course.
The ageing time on the lees varies as well. Nine months is the minimum, but for ambitious producers, it is more like 20–24 months, and sometimes even longer.
