Alsace

Question 1

What years did the Thirty Years War start and finish?

Answer 1

1618-1648

Question 2

What concluded the Thirty Years War in 1648?

Answer 2

The treaty of Westphalia

Question 3

Germany claimed territory with Lorraine of Alsace at the conclusion of the Franco Prussian War in what year?

Answer 3

1871

Question 4

What year marked the beginning of a divergence in French and German winemaking styles?

Answer 4

1945

Question 5

What year did Alsace finally achieve AOC status?

Answer 5

1962

Alsace was the last major French winemaking region to do so.

Question 6

What two departments is Alsace divided into?

Answer 6

Haut-Rhin

Bas-Rhin

Question 7

Over two thirds of Alsace’s Grand Cru Vineyards are located in what department?

Answer 7

Haut-Rhin

Question 8

Alsace is separated from the remainder of France by which mountains to the west?

Answer 8

Vosges Mountains

The mountains provide a “rain shadow” effect.

Question 9

What is the capital of the Haut-Rhin department?

Answer 9

Colmar

Question 10

True or False?

Colmar is the driest city in France

Answer 10

True

Question 11

The better vineyards of Alsace enjoy which direction of exposure to maximize sunlight?

Answer 11

Southern, southeastern, or warm eastern

Question 12

What is the name of the local pink sandstone in Alsace?

Answer 12

gres de Vosges

Question 13

What are the soil types of Alsatian vineyards?

Answer 13

The land is a geologic mosaic; granite, limestone, schist, clay, gravel, chalk, loess,

Question 14

What are the four “noble” grapes of Alsace?

Answer 14

Riesling, Pinot Gris, Muscat (either Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, Muscat Rosé à Petits Grains or Muscat Ottonel), and Gewurztraminer

Question 15

What are the 4 aforementioned noble grapes of Alsace AOP or Vin d’Alsace?

Answer 15

Pinot Blanc (Klevner), Chasselas (Gutedel), Sylvaner, and Pinot Noir

These grapes are allowed to be bottled varietally

Question 16

True or False?

Alsace AOP wines must contain 100% of the printed grape?

Answer 16

True

Question 17

What are the four grapes that white wines simply labeled “Pinot,” may contain?

Answer 17

Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, and Auxerrois.

Question 18

True or False?

Riesling is the most planted grape and Alsace’s last noble grape to ripen.

Answer 18

True

Question 19

What is the grape varietal formerly called Tokay d’Alsace or Tokay Pinot Gris?

Answer 19

Pinot Gris

Question 20

Gewurztraminer is a pink-berried clone of the traditional what grape?

Answer 20

Traminer

Question 21

Traminer is locally known as what grape around the commune of Heiligenstein in the Bas-Rhin?

Answer 21

Klevener

Question 22

What are the 5 communes that may bottle Savagnin Rose or Klevener de Heiligenstein under the existing Alsace AOP?

Answer 22

Heiligenstein itself, Bourgheim, Gertwiller, Goxwiller, and Obernai.

Question 23

What does the term Edelzwicker indicate?

Answer 23

(“noble mixture”) usually indicates its own inverse: an inexpensive blended wine.

Question 24

True or False?

Alsace AOP wines labeled Edelzwicker do not need to be vintage-dated, nor are they even legally obligated to contain more than one grape.

Answer 24

True

Question 25

What is “Gentil”?

Answer 25

A superior designation for blends, requiring a minimum of 50% noble grapes.

Question 26

What approach is advocate Marcel Deiss known for as a means of emphasizing Alsatian terroir?

Answer 26

Field Blends, In this case, the grapes are typically vinified together and produced under a vineyard name.

Question 27

The Alsace Grand Cru AOP was first decreed in 1975 with what single named vineyard?

Answer 27

Schlossberg

Question 28

What year was the 51st Grand Cru Kaefferkopf added to the list of Grand Cru AOP wines?

Answer 28

2007

Question 29

What are the two AOP’s of Lorraine?

Answer 29

Côtes de Toul AOP Moselle AOP

Question 30

Cuvée Frédéric Emile is a blend of which two grand cru vineyards?

Answer 30

Geisberg and Osterberg

Question 31

Alsace produces approximately what percentage of France’s still white wines?

Answer 31

18%

Question 32

What producer owns the most hectares of grand cru vineyards in Alsace?

Answer 32

Domaine Schlumberger

Question 33

What is Vendanges Tardives?

Answer 33

A designation for late harvest wine, May show botrytis character but emphasizes varietal purity. May vary in actual sugar, and can be quite dry.

Question 34

What is Sélections de Grains Nobles?

Answer 34

Generally picked in tries, and suppress varietal character in return for the complexities of botrytis. In practice SGN wines are always dessert-like.

Question 35

What is the only red varietal permitted for Alsace AOP wines?

Answer 35

Pinot Noir

Question 36

Which varietal is the work horse for Cremant d’Alsace AOP wines?

Answer 36

Pinot Blanc

Question 37

Cremant d’Alsace is the only appellation in Alsace to allow which grape varietal?

Answer 37

Chardonnay