It’s no secret that I love wines from Alsace, so I was thrilled when we started carrying this cremant at work. With the exception of Champagne, I don’t think there is another sparkling wine that holds up to what is being produced in this region. Personally, I prefer the range of flavors I find here to those of any other sparkling wine.
The Muré family has been producing wines for 12 generations, going back to 1650 in Alsace. They are certified biodynamic by Demeter and organic by Ecocert. Grapes are picked by hand and their juice is pressed from whole bunches, on the stems. Their website has a wealth of information, including an annual report on harvest conditions. It’s a great place to geek out while sipping on a glass.
This wine is a blend of Pinot Blanc, Auxerrois, Riesling, Pinot Gris, and Pinot Noir, a pretty standard line-up of Alsatian grapes. It is the least expensive of their sparkling wines, but has a fascinating texture, almost like I was biting into an apple. I found flavors of nectarine, apricot, pear, apple, wet stone, honey, and a touch of citrus. Structurally, it was dry, with high acid, playful, creamy, effervescence and a long finish.
We wanted a wine that would sit comfortably between Prosecco and Champagne, in terms of price point. I’ve not been as impressed with cremant from other regions in France, and have had terrible luck with Cava. When it was suggested that we might, once again, carry a Cremant d’Alsace, I was thrilled. Of the 2-3 we tasted, this was the only one that displayed a texture creamy enough to set it apart from our Prosecco and rival our reserve list Champagne. This is an incredibly food friendly wine that would pair with a wide variety of dishes or to just enjoy after a rough day of work, because you deserve something nice in your life, damn it.