Demystifying ‘Grand Cru’

Part 4: Alsace

In the first two parts of this series, we looked at the two main Bordeaux Grand Cru classifications: Médoc, for its prestigious though somewhat controversial 1855 classification, which ranked châteaux on their historical reputation; and Saint-Émilion for its less iconic, though arguably fairer classification which places more emphasis on the wines themselves and is updated every decade. In the latest (third) part of the series, we looked at Burgundy, with its fragmented vineyards, owned by multiple growers and discussed how Grand Cru here was based on site expression and terroir, rather than the efforts of the producer, although the latter ultimately dictates the quality of the final wine.

Now we’re moving to another region in France, which does things differently again. 

Alsace is a region in north eastern France with significant Germanic influence, that is clearly reflected in its resulting wines. Protected by the rain shadow of the Vosges Mountains, it’s surprisingly dry and warm for this part of the world and before World War II, was a source of high volume, inexpensive wines from flatter land.

Alsace's distinctive flute-shaped bottle. Not a Grand Cru example!

However, in the 1960s, this started to change and the hillside slopes of the aforementioned Vosges started to be planted with vines destined for premium production. The land dedicated to bulk wine production reduced and the region started to gain recognition for high quality grapes grown from cooler, higher altitude sites. At the same time, Crémant d’Alsace emerged as an important style using these fresher grapes from higher quality sites.

In 1975, more than a century after Bordeaux’s 1855 classification system came into place, Alsace introduced its own Grand Cru system. Like Burgundy’s, this was based on site expression and relates to the vineyard plot as opposed to the producer. Also like Burgundy, one vineyard plot could be fragmented amongst multiple growers who can sell to co-operatives or larger wineries, although to a much lesser extent than Burgundy’s very small vineyard parcels. As a result, wines labelled as Grand Cru may be produced by a range of growers or co-operatives, meaning that final quality depends as much on producer decisions as on terroir.

Today, there are 51 designated Grand Cru vineyards in Alsace, which account for around 4-5% of total production. Importantly, Alsace Grand Cru AOC is a single appellation encompassing these 51 named vineyard sites, rather than 51 separate Grand Cru appellations, as is the case in Burgundy (for example, Clos de Vougeot AOC). Wines must state ‘Alsace Grand Cru AOC’ on the label alongside the name of the vineyard e.g. Altenberg de Bergheim. 

Under the original framework, early Grand Cru regulations enforced broadly similar rules across sites. These fairly relaxed rules allowed for vast stylistic variation, for example styles from dry to sweet are allowed in Alsace Grand Cru AOC, and this led to difficultly comparing between sites and therefore a less clearly defined hierarchy than Burgundy. Relatively high permitted yields for Grand Cru and slightly vague boundaries on vineyard sites left some producers feeling the rules around the Grand Cru system were too relaxed. At the same time, Grand Cru wines could only be made as a single varietal from one of the four 'noble' grape varieties - Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris and Muscat. This stringency meant producers were unable to label their highest quality Pinot Noir, Sylvaner or blends as 'Grand Cru'. Together, the combination of the rules being both too loose and too strict led to some leading producers moving away from using the term 'Grand Cru' on their labelling, feeling it did not reliably reflect the quality they were striving for or allow for local traditions and nuance. 

A significant shift came about in the early 2000s, when regulatory adjustments were made to allow three vineyards to bend the rules a little - Sylvaner became a permitted variety in Zotzenberg and blends became permitted in Kaefferkopf and Altenberg de Bergheim. In 2011, the boundaries of each of the 51 Grand Cru vineyard sites became more tightly delimited and more formal individual regulations were developed, which allowed for better recognition of terroir and flexibility to embrace local varieties and winemaking practices. This didn’t create 51 new appellations but instead reinforced prestigious connotations with each of the Grand Cru vineyard sites. In turn, this encouraged those producers who initially shunned the ‘Grand Cru’ term to readopt it. In 2022, a new allowance for Pinot Noir in Hengst, Kirchberg de Barr and later, Vorbourg, was introduced, which takes into account the changing climate and advanced viticultural practices, which are better suited to growing Pinot Noir.

All these changing rules can be hard to get your head around but I think Alsace is particularly interesting to highlight in this series for its adaptability. When the original Grand Cru vineyard limits were too vague, they adapted to tighten them up and bring about a sense of prestige. When there was backlash from growers about the rules being too strict around non-noble grape varieties, adjustments were made to honour local tradition. Finally, since global warming has made ripening black grapes like Pinot Noir possible in Alsace, this variety has joined the permitted Grand Cru grapes in certain vineyards, which shows adaptability to the changing climate.

While Burgundy allows site to speak through multiple producers and styles, Alsace’s Grand Cru rules were always designed to prioritise clarity and typicity over interpretive freedom, through tightly defined grape varieties and production standards. However 'typicity' in the world of wine changes over time and Alsace's response with regards to 'Grand Cru' was, quite rightly, to change with it.