Alsace and Lorraine share a turbulent history as a buffer between France and Germany, and the Alsatian culture reflects elements of both societies.
Throughout the Middle Ages, Alsace was a province of the Germanic Holy Roman Empire. France developed into a centralized national state in the 15th and 16th centuries, a position which brought it into direct conflict with the Spanish Habsburg house, a branch of Europe’s most powerful dynasty. The French-Habsburg rivalry catapulted the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) in Europe from a localized German religious dispute into a general European war for political dominance. In 1639, French armies seized most of the region of Alsace to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Spanish Habsburgs. The Treaty of Westphalia concluded the war in 1648 and cemented France’s ownership of Alsace until Germany claimed the territory with Lorraine at the conclusion of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871. Alsace-Lorraine enjoyed an extremely brief period of total independence as the abdication of Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm brought the end of World War I, but French troops quickly moved on Alsace-Lorraine and its capital, Strasbourg, and reincorporated the region into the country within a month. Despite a short occupation by Nazi Germany in the early 1940s, Alsace remains French. Though both are former French régions, as of 2016, Alsace and Lorraine along with Champagne now comprise the Grand Est région.
Winegrowing in Alsace dates to the first millennium. There were 160 Alsatian villages growing grapevines by the year 1000, a trend that peaked in the 16th century. The brutal Thirty Years’ War demolished winegrowing in the region, and the political instability of the following 300 years repressed the resurgence of the vine. French control following World War I renewed viticulture in Alsace, yet many of the region’s current vineyards date
Julie, you might check our compendium page on the crus of Vin de Savoie if you would like a complete rundown on authorized varieties.
Hi,
I always thought that Vin de Savoie + Marignan and Ripaille (as well as Marin which is not mentioned above) had to be 100% Chasselas ? Am I wrong ? Thanks
Thanks to Rick Schofield for clearing up some misinformation on Klevener de Heiligenstein:
The Klevener de Heiligenstein AOC will continue past 2021. Only certain parts of certain communes will be disallowed in the AOC after 2021. Those growers have been given enough notice to avoid economic hardship. The demise in 2021 of KdH can be found around the web, but it is not true. My information came by email a year ago from a grower in downtown Heiligenstein and from Thierry Fritsch @ CIVA.
"In fact, the area for the Klevener de Heiligenstein is fixed by law. But you can find this grape in some vines around it, and the producers can use for the wines there the name Klevener de Heiligenstein until 2021. After this date it will be forbidden." -- T.F.
“The area for the Klevener de Heiligenstein was a project established in 1971 with about 120 Ha. But the final agreement in 1997 kept only 97 Ha of it.
The difference is rarely planted in Klevener de Heiligenstein, but some vines existed as the law changed. That is why a few surfaces are allowed to produce this appellation, but limited in a reasonable time for whom worked hard to plant vines. That’s why we came to the limit fixed at 2021.
All other production of Klevener de Heiligenstein will rest (of course) in AOC ! And it figures now in the new category “Appellation Communale”…” -- Domaine Heywang, Heiligenstein
Tim, typically, we think of Poulsard as a red grape, although there is a white mutation, Poulsard Blanc. French law considers them, collectively, as one grape. It is typically used, according to "Wine Grapes", to add a little color to Vin de Paille, and it is authorized for both blanc and vin de paille in l'Etoile, but only as a minor component for white wines.
Did you look at the linked compendium page?
In the Jura section it states that L'Etoile is a white wine only AOP that allows Chardonnay, Poulsard, and Savagnin. Is there a Poulsard blanc or am I mis-reading the statement?