This extremely steep vineyard overlooks the village of Thann (the banner photograph of this site was taken from Rangen--that steeple on the left is the Cathedral of St.-Thiébaut). The Thur river runs at the base of the vineyard, and as the vineyard rises up at a dizzying 70° angle, one is easily reminded of photographs of the Mosel. That is where the comparison ends, however, because the wines from Rangen are typically much more powerful. Rangen is a naturally great Grand Cru. Even in poor vintages, the wines from this vineyard still manage to be excellent. Rangen collects heat readily, yet it is an inherently cool vineyard. As a result its ripening period is long and steady: it remains one of the latest blooming and latest ripening vineyards in Alsace. It faces south, is mostly terraced and possesses soil made up of various volcanic rocks.

Resuscitating a Great Vineyard
Wines from Rangen have been revered since the twelfth century, but tending and harvesting vines at such a steep angle is difficult and expensive, and of course soil erosion is a yearly problem. The Sisyphean labor involved with managing this vineyard eventually led to disuse and if it weren't for the work of Léonard Humbrecht, Rangen might still be covered with little more than withered vines and underbrush. M. Humbrecht purchased the Clos St.-Urbain within Rangen in the early 1970s and proceeded make dazzling wines. These wines were difficult to ignore, of course, so others acquired and/or revived old parcels in the remainder of the vineyard. Even so, for at least fifteen years, the wines Zind-Humbrecht crafted from Rangen were the class of the Grand Cru, but Domaine Schoffit has continuously elevated the quality and consistency of the cuvées from their parcel in Rangen, and their wines are indeed great.

Wines and Producers of Rangen
Rangen is known for favoring Pinot Gris, historically, and current producers of Rangen wines have a long track record of strong Pinot Gris. Gewurztraminer also emerges from this hillside with beautiful wine, but Riesling is the show-stopper for me--there are only a handful of other vineyard sites that yield Riesling of such complexity. Only two producers who craft wines from Rangen are currently available in the U.S. with any regularity. Zind-Humbrecht, who got the Rangen revolution started, produces extraordinary examples of Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, and Riesling from their monopole within Rangen, the Clos St.-Urbain. Domaine Schoffit produces the same varieties from their monopole of Clos St.-Théobald.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Anderson Valley is not just the home of some of the United States' most compelling Pinot Noirs, it is also the home of some exciting wines in an Alsatian style. Gewurztraminer, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Muscat, Pinot Blanc, you'll find these grown here, but at this festival you'll find producers from around the world in attendance, showcasing their versions of Alsace wine--from the Pacific Northwest to New Zealand, and Germany to, yes, Alsace. For more information on this great event, which takes place in two weeks--February 20 & 21--visit the Anderson Valley Winegrowers Association.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Oh do I love a good onion tart! And I'm not the only one: it is so wonderfully satisfying that when a restaurant in Alsace (or Paris) puts a sandwich board out on the sidewalk with a sign that reads, "Onion Tart 4:00", you had better be there before 4 or you're not getting any.

This is one of the simplest dishes in many ways, depending on how you feel about making a crust. Making your own crust is a gratifying experience, and it is not difficult--especially if you have a food processor. It only takes five minutes of work time and two hours to chill.

I have made many, many of these and tried them out on my friends and I tweaked the recipe here and there to get what I wanted. With an ingredients list this short, you'll probably find yourself tweaking this to your own preferences. Here is my recipe:

1. Make a pâté brisée. The one from Mastering the Art of French Cooking is great: 10 oz. (2 cups) All-Purpose flour; 1 tsp salt; 1/4 tsp sugar; 1½ sticks of cold, unsalted butter; 4 Tbsp chilled shortening; scant ½-cup of ice water, plus a little extra as needed. Use a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Put flour, salt, and sugar into the work bowl of a food processor. Cut butter into quarters lengthwise and then in to ½-inch pieces. Cut shortening into similar sized pieces and put both in with the flour mixture. Pulse the processor four or five times until it looks like a coarse meal. Turn the processor on and dump the entire ½-cup of ice water in. Immediately turn processor off and then pulse it (to avoid over-mixing). The mixture should begin to ball up on the blades. If not, dribble some tiny amounts of extra ice water and continue to pulse until the dough gathers into one or two balls on the blades. Remove from processor and put on a floured surface. Smear small sections of the dough across the surface with the heel of your hand to complete the mixing. Press dough into a disc about an inch thick and refrigerate it for at least two hours, or overnight.

2. Prepare the Onions. Slice 1½-2 lbs of yellow onions crosswise. Heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil or lard in a large skillet or Dutch Oven over medium heat. Two Methods Version 1: Add onions when oil is shimmering but not smoking. Add ½-tsp of salt. Stirring frequently, cook onions until they are caramelized and soft, about 7 minutes. This makes a rich, hearty set of flavors. Version 2: Cook onions over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until softened but not at all browned or soft. This is somewhere between stewing and a vigorous sweating of the onions, and will provide greater textural contrast and brighter onion flavor. Continue: Add plenty of freshly ground black pepper and a few sweeps of nutmeg across a nutmeg grater. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add 1 Tbsp of all-purpose flour and cook for five minutes more, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and allow onions to cool for 10 minutes.

3. Pre-Bake the Tart Crust. Pre-heat over to 400°F. Roll out dough and put it in a buttered 11-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Butter a piece of parchment or aluminum foil and place it on top of the dough. Fill with pie weights (or dried beans) and bake for 8-9 minutes. Remove parchment and pie weights, prick dough with a fork and cook for 2-3 minutes more, until the crust looks drier.

4. Prepare the Custard, Assemble, and Bake. Meanwhile, whisk 1 cup of milk, 1 cup of cream, 3 eggs, plus salt and pepper to taste in a medium-sized bowl. When crust is finished with the pre-baking, stir onions into the cream and egg mixture and pour immediately into the crust. Sprinkle with matchsticks cut from two pieces of thick-cut bacon, if desired (because the bacon makes it heavier and obscures the onion flavors somewhat, I only do this when it is very cold outside--but there is something very warming about the flavor and texture bacon offers). Put in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until the custard is set in the center.

5. At the Table. Slice and serve with roasted asparagus or steamed broccoli. If you caramelized the onions as in version 1, then open a bottle of Alsatian Pinot Gris or Auxerrois. If you cooked the onions more gently, then try a Pinot Blanc or Sylvaner instead.

Ingredients List

Pastry:
10 oz. (about 2 cups) all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. sugar
12 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter
4 Tbsp. chilled shortening
Scant ½-cup ice water, plus a small amount extra if necessary.

Filling:
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (preferably NOT from Tuscany)
2 lbs. yellow onions
salt, pepper, and nutmeg
1 Tbsp flour
1 cup milk
1 cup cream
3 eggs
salt and pepper
2 pieces thick-cut bacon, cut into matchsticks (optional)

Popularity: 4% [?]

There are a number of "village" wines in Alsace, but they have little impact in export markets. Most of them are red wines made of Pinot Noir with names such as Rouge d'Ottrott or Rouge de St.-Hippolyte. There is another, which is arguably more important to posterity, called Klevener de Heiligenstein. This curiosity is the phantom tenth grape permitted in Alsace under the AOC Vin d'Alsace designation, but only when grown within the bounds of five communes in the Bas-Rhin. Outside of Alsace, the pink-berried Klevener de Heiligenstein is known principally as Traminer.

Characteristics of Klevener de Heiligenstein
A well-made Klevener de Heiligenstein--Traminer--tastes as though someone took the wind out of the sails of a Gewurztraminer. Almost everything about the grape is more modest than Gewurz, which should not be surprising, since Gewurz means 'spiced.' Traminer is similarly, if not quite so brazenly, full-bodied. Its aroma often reminds me of cloves or allspice, but in a much more delicate fashion, and I have occasionally caught a very appealing wiff of isinglass (those zippered windows on a Jeep, not the fish bladder). It's yellow fruit flavors are quite satisfying and even exotic, but the first few times I had a Traminer, I found it lacking, but that is because I know that Gewurztraminer lurks behind it.

On the Trail of the Pink Klevener
Traminer--the Klevener of Heiligenstein--has recently been proven to be indentical to the Savagnin grape. The white-berried Savagnin is best known in the Jura region--which is just south of Alsace--as the grape responsible for the famous, peculiar, and somewhat sherry-like Vin Jaune. French ampelographer (a botanist who is concerned with identifying and classifying grape vines) Pierre Galet maintains that Traminer is a pink-berried mutation of Savagnin that he calls Savagnin Rosé. It is difficult to know when the mutation occurred, and therefore hard to determine where it occurred. Most theories hold that Savagnin Rosé did the travelling, not only to Alsace, but Germany and other points east.

Klevener de Heiligenstein does have a significant role in wine grape history, if not necessarily as "Klevener", but as Traminer. If Savagnin mutated into Savagnin Rosé--Traminer--then it was a secondary mutation that brought us Gewurztraminer, as Gewurz is widely considered to be the musqué, or highly aromatic, version of Traminer.

By Any Other Name
In addition to Savagnin Rosé, Traminer, and Klevener de Heiligenstein, this variety also known as Roter Traminer. Klevener de Heiligenstein is not a village appellation in the strictest sense, as the following five different villages are allowed to bottle wine as "Klevener de Heiligenstein": Barr, Gertwiller, Goxwiller, Heiligenstein, and Obernai. And finally, Klevener de Heiligenstein should not be confused with Klevner (or Clevner), which is a common moniker for Pinot Blanc or a Pinot Blanc-based blend.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Buried deep in the concentric circles of Eguisheim is a worthy destination for any foot traveler, and traveling by foot is the way here. Be sure to have some cash with you to pay the nominal parking fee, then make the brief walk into this spellbinding village. When you arrive at Bruno Sorg, you'll no doubt notice the sign marking its place: whimsical and irreverent, the sign is a piece of paper that has been attached to a rod with a paper clip. This immediately fires my mind into speculation of possible subtexts, but perhaps it is only intended to acknowledge that this is a relatively new domaine. In a region steeped in tradition, with families and estates whose histories have survived innumerable conflicts and bloodshed, new domaines are not commonplace, especially domaines that make wine of the fabulous quality of Bruno Sorg.

The wines are generally unavailable in the United States, so through the years I have acquired Sorg's wines through various channels so that I could maintain a familiarity with this estate. I do this because, please excuse the pleonasm, Sorg’s wines are MAGNIFICENT. I'm not the only one who thinks so:

“Bruno Sorg is a small grower whose wines are seldom seen locally, let alone on export markets, which is a great pity, because either he is a natural winemaking genius or he accidentally makes classic wines from virtually every variety in all vintages. If anyone deserves to be known better, it is Sorg.” --Tom Stevenson, The Wines of Alsace

The wines from Bruno Sorg (now made by son François) are dry wines, with sugar playing a strong role only in late harvest wines. On the whole, the wines are sleek, ebullient, and incredibly consisent.

The Wines
Sorg’s “classique” wines are just that--archetypes of each grape variety. The aromas are bold, lively, and, well, classic. I wouldn't suggest that they are reaching for great complexity, but they indeed have much going on throughout the palate experience. I'm particularly happy with the contrary nature of the Gewurztraminer (though it isn't too atypical in Alsace). Most people associate this wine with sweetness, which is largely dictated by the fact that its potential alcohol is high. Sorg's is dry, but absolutely in balance, quite spicy and fun to drink. On the cold and snowy day I visited, the Gewurztraminers I sampled in this tasting room were particularly satisfying.

The Grands Crus possess suffusing subtleties and are less obvious, and have an emotionally and cerebrally engaging interplay of flavors, textures, and aromas that are quite soulful and driven. Sorg owns parcels in three Grands Crus, two in Eguisheim (Eichberg and Pfersigberg) and one in Ingersheim (Florimont). The Eichberg Gewurztraminer, Florimont Pinot Gris, and Pfersigberg Muscat are also thrilling wines. The Muscat is widely considered the best Muscat of Alsace. Florimont is one of two vineyards in which you may find the flora of the Mediterranean, and one might legitimately consider this sort of site to be a good one for Gewurztraminer, but François is not a fan. He does have Gewurz planted in Florimont, however, and he turns it into outstanding late harvest wines.

The late harvest wines, Vendanges Tardives and Sélections de Grains Nobles, are not labeled with "Grand Cru" on the label, I suppose this is even when they are entirely from a Grand Cru, but as they are always blended from multiple sources, this should not be surprising. There seems to be a philosophical stricture at work here, in that botrytis cinera--a.k.a., "noble rot"--so obscures a Grand Cru's expression with its own flavor set that it is no longer true to that Grand Cru. This is not a new philosophy, and it is certainly not shared by all, but I heard it from several new producers on my most recent trip, so it is gaining traction. Whatever the philosophy actually subscribed to at Sorg, the late harvest wines are spectacular, as one might guess.

Domaine Bruno Sorg
8, rue Monseigneur Stumpf
68420 Eguisheim
Telephone (from the U.S.A.): 011 33 3 89 41 80 85
It is best to be prepared to speak French here, but even if you don't you'll love the wines and feel welcome in their tasting room.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Mechanized wine makers installed at one of Mittelbergheim's 16th Century wine presses (this one was in operation until 1950!). Mittelbergheim is home of the Grand Cru Zotzenberg, famous for Grand Cru SYLVANER.

Popularity: 3% [?]