Alsace in Numbers

After a successful first #AlsaceWineWeek in Ireland  I thought I’d pick out a few key numbers to give readers a background to the region.

2 Departments

The Alsace region is divided administratively into 2 Départements

1. Haut Rhin (Upper Rhine)
2. Bas Rhin (Lower Rhine)

4 Noble Grapes

1. Riesling
2. Pinot Gris
3. Gewurztraminer
4. Muscat (usually Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains)

As a general rule, Grand Cru wines can only be made from one of these noble grapes.

4% of vineyard area is Grand Cru

This compares to approximately 2% of Burgundy being Grand Cru (with a further 12% being Bourgogne Premier Cru).

7 Featured Grapes

In addition to the 4 noble grapes above, there are also

1. Pinot Blanc
2. Pinot Noir
3. Sylvaner

These three plus the four noble grapes above are the most commonly seen on wine labels.

13 Total Grapes

Apart from the featured grapes there are six others which can legitimately be used…