Alsace Grand Cru tours in 2021 - 2022

The Alsace Grand Cru tours (in het Nederlands vindt u deze tekst hier)

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The history of wine making in Alsace goes back to old Roman times. Castles dot the landscape, villages, churches, vineyards and wines, cuisine and traditions all make Alsace a unique and magical European experience.

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Did you know that apart from Japan, the french Alsace region has the most Michelin * restaurants in the world? Did you know that there are recognized over 800 soil types in Alsace? Given the fact that most winemakers in Alsace make their wines in the wine field and not in the wine cellar that results in an enormous variety in smells and flavors. It also means that the wine year really make a difference.

Did you know that the great white grand cru wines often have an enormous aging potential?

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On this tour you will find it all out ! We offer you the biggest names and visit wineries like Zind Humbrecht, Deiss,Trimbach, Hugel, etc.

You will visit the Confrerie St Etienne at the Chateau de Kientzheim with its history and with a wine cellar with over 65.000 bottles going back to the 1800's.

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We have our lunches and dinners in the finest restaurants often Michelin starred.

The Alsace Grand Cru tour is your chance to visit and taste the very best Alsace has to offer.

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What you will do and see

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We will start with an introduction and overview. You will learn about the grand cru system. Understand what happens and what it means when winemakers are not allowed to irrigate their fields.

You will taste from dry to sweet; compare young and old.

Each day you will be in a different area. We will be in "bas rhin" in the north and "haut rhin" in the south, but because of the changing shape and presence of the Vosges mountains, there are a lot of different micro-climates within those areas. The micro climates all leave their trace and signature in the wines.

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Our lunches and dinners

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As stated we have selected some great restaurants. Apart from their rating in the Michelin guide they are also chosen for their location. On your tour we do not want to waste time on unnecessary driving. Wines during lunches and dinners are for your own expense, except for the last evening dinner where everything is included.

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Who will be on the tour?

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You will meet wine lovers that "know their wines" and also have been in other wine areas. But you will also meet "beginners" and people that want to get to know Alsace and its culinary highlights. Considering age: there will be  younger and older people from diferent backgrounds.

In other words the groups are mixed, but the thing everybody has in common is wanting to "wine and dine" on a high level, get to know the area and meet other people that also want to share that same experience.

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Stay in a selection of fine hotels

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Depending on the tour we sometimes choose one hotel for all our tour guests. On other tours we use three of the best hotels in Colmar that  are on walking distcance from each other. That means that you book the room(s) you want yourself.

The tour bus will always pick you up and drop you off at your place. On some evenings we can walk to the restaurant and back to the hotel.

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Costs

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The tour rate per person is: Euro 995,=

Once your Alsace Grand Cru Wine Tour begins you can relax knowing that the tour rate covers absolutely everything besides your hotel and breakfast expenses.

So: guides, all lunches and dinners, all tasting wines, excursions, all entrance fees, tasting fees, tips, taxes and gratuities are dealt with. Tipping is neither required nor expected.

Last but not least: you are not obliged to buy any wines on the tour but "if" you do, we can assist you in shipping those wines.

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Résumée - Alsace Grand Cru tour from Colmar 

• 4 nights, 3 tour days 
• Exclusive touring: minimum of 4 couples or 8 people, maximum 8 couples or 16 people
• Air conditioned mini-bus with driver 
• 7 tastings, more than 60 wines, compare many grand cru's 
• 3 lunches, 3 gourmet dinners (one with Michelin *) 
• Stay in one of three of our preselected hotels in Colmar 
• Tour rate per person: Euro 995,,=,  
• including all tour transport, all tastings, 3 lunches, 3 dinners 
• excl. hotel and breakfasts
• We can assist you in shipping your wines 
• Your tour host : drs. J. Pieter Smits

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Please check our Event planning for available tour dates​ in 2021 and 2022.

For Alsace book here!

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Planning Grand Cru group tours for 2021 and 2022 - Planning Grand Cru groep tours voor 2021 and 2022

We will start touring again after June 15, complying with all the rules and necessary precautions of course.

But : especially because of the uncertainties about when our American guests are able to fly into Europe again, our Grand Cru Group tours for 2020 have been cancelled 

So our one and more day private tours are possible to book for the coming months. But only the more day GC group tours will not be held in 2020 but will resume in 2021. Please check out our planning.

Na 15 juni starten wij weer met touren. Natuurlijk in lijn met de regels en voorzorgsmaatregelen in Frankrijk. Het is naast eendaagse tours ook weer mogelijk om meerdaagse prive tours te boeken in 2020.

De geplande meerdaagse Grand Cru groeps tours voor 2020 zijn echter gecancelled. De nieuwe data voor deze luxe meerdaagse groepstours staan in het plaatje en onze planningskalender. 

Site Members get all kinds of information for free - register today !

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The information (often in PDF format) will grow in 2018!
So drop by now and then!

For information on Alsace (grand cru's, food pairings, etc.) register and follow this link
Example:

Complete list plus surface from Alsace Grand Cru's by JoliSoleil

And how about our information on the Aoc's of Burgundy and the "Cuisine" of Tuscany?

You can download and read our documents (in PDF) for free, just register as a site member !

Cheers
    et
a bientôt!

JS-USA-Wine-Club in the spotlight this week: "Louis Sipp - Grand Cru Kirchberg Riesling 2014"

Appellation Grand Cru Kirchberg Riesling 2014 - box of 6
Locality The Kirchberg hill at Ribeauvillé. Classified as Grand Cru by a ruling of 1975
Tips for Consuming Will accompany any dish which goes well with a white wine which is both dry and ample like: shellfish and crustaceans, fish in sauce, river fish, white meat, hard cheese, goat cheese... It will also work well throughout an entire meal.
Price Box of 6: Euro 120,00
Remember this is the price charged at the winery, but without taxes so you have earned 20%
Handling, shipping and insurance for a box of 6 are Euro 126,= or Euro 21,= per bottle
Keeping the tax advantage in mind: the shipping price drops under Euro 20,= per bottle.

About the Wine maker
Created in the 1920s, the winery Domaine Louis Sipp is nowadays one of the most famous wineries of Alsace (3 stars in the Bettane & Desseauve wine guide).
With a 40 hectares vineyard certified as organic winegrowing since 2008 and located on the historical hills of Ribeauvillé, Louis Sipp winery produces a large range of wines that reflecting the outstanding geologic diversity (Hagel, Steinacker, Grossberg, Rotenberg, Muehlforst, Trottacker, Hagenau, Ribeauvillé).
The winery is known for the softness of the Grands Crus Kirchberg de Ribeauvillé and Osterberg white wines, but also for the quality of their sweet white wines ("Vendanges Tardives" and "Sélections de Grains Nobles").

France's Alsace - JSwinetours does private wine tours in Alsace all year round.

JSwinetours tours Alsace all year round. On our 1-day wine tours you will already get a good overview of the rich palette of wines the region has to offer. You will compare and taste many Grand Cru's.
On our more day tours we tour the North, Middle and or South in seperate days.

We will take you to the best restaurants where you can expect a melting pot of German and French cuisine or French cusine at its best.



For more information just mail us or call +33672120319.

Alsace: Grand Cru Schlossberg

The Grand Cru system in Alsace dates "only" from 1975.
The first area getting the nomination "grand cru" of now 51 areas was the Schlossberg. Schloss is german for castle. And with castle we mean the castle of Kaysersberg in this particular case.

The soil is mainly granite which gives clearness, freshness and minerality. As it does not rain much in this area and the water rushes down, the grapes sometimes really suffer looking for water on this plot of land.
But .... suffering is mostly positive for the smell and taste. The balance between acidity and sugar is very distinctive in Schlossberg.

Grand Cru Schlossberg, le film (5 min)A découvrir, à goûter, à partager, sans modération aucune ! Alors…Prêt ??...3, 2,1…Dégustez :-)

Posted by Grands Terroirs d'Alsace on Thursday, 21 May 2015

Domaine Marc Kreydenweiss - Open House 29-30 March 2014 10:00 am to 7:00 pm

The Domain
Domaine Marc Kreydenweiss is one of the wonderful Alsatian wine makers who has the bragging rights of fine wines made with a true passion for the vine and a family history of wine making going back to the year 1650.

Passing this tradition down for so many generations is something most people can only dream of. In the Alsace region it is a wonderful right of passage for the child to take the craft of his or her parent as his or her own many generations continuing on.

Since 1971
Marc Kreydenweiss took over operations of his vineyard from his father in 1971 at the age of 23. He and his family live in the same house that the generations before him have lived in, and he is passing on his passion to his growing family as it was passed on to him, at his estate in Andlau.

He is a passionate winemaker who believes his wines should bear a signature, are greatly influenced by the terroir, and should extend to the senses beyond those of smell and taste thus painting a picture in the mind.

The Domaine Marc Kreydenweiss nurtures the land of Alsace and the Rhone Valley. Since 1990 Marc has turned all of his production into bio-dynamic farming.

Bio-dynamic farming
Bio-dynamic farming is not well understood to outsiders, it is not merely the avoidance of pesticides and the avoidance of chemical fertilizers, and avoidance of chemicals added during processing. Bio-dynamic farming also includes tapping into the natural batteries of the earth, a process of working with telluric energy of the earth and the cycles of the moon, sun, starts and planets.

Based on the teachings of Rudolph Steiner (1861-1925) bio-dynamics incorporates the spiritual world with the physical world, and is considered to be a holistic approach to agriculture and other disciplines.

The Alsace wine region in total was the first wine region to adopt bio-dynamics into wine making. It has as a whole been a leader in this discipline, and the earliest of adopters. Today world wide there are over 450 bio-dynamic wine makers, with none more zealous than those of Alsace.


Production in Alsace
Currently farming about 12 hectares of land, 80% of their production is exported, the largest market of export being the USA 

Alsace:
Kastelberg Grand Cru "Le Chateau",
Wiebelsberg Grand Cru "La Dame",
Moenchberg Grand Cru "Le Moine",
Clos Rebberg "Aux vignes",
Clos du Val d 'Eleon "Lame de la terre",
Kritt 'Les Alouettes",
Clos Rebgarten "Le Jardin des vignes",
Andlau "Au dessus de la loi",
La Fontaine aux enfants.

The grapes are hand picked, crushed, then fermented with natural yeast in Vosges grown oak barrels, bottled and topped with a natural cork. Production is around 70,000 bottles per year.

We will be attending the Domaine Marc Krydenweiss Open House, with two guest from the U.S. and will have a follow up tasting report soon afterwards.

Terry's Book Review - Olive Oil

This wonderful book will walk you through the colors, flavors and production locations of olive oil.

Olive Oil 

by Jacques Chibois and Olivier Baussan

Illustrated with more than 150 color photographs, Olive Oil is to be enjoyed again and again, both for its superb images and its extraordinary recipes.

Olivier Baussan, one of the great olive oil connoisseurs, takes you on a wonderful journey through the olive groves, presses and mills of the Mediterranean region. This is an invitation not only to discover the finest oils, but also to savor the conviviality of Provence, Corsica, Italy, Spain, Greece and Galilee.

The celebrated chef Jacques Chibois presents fifty recipes ranging from traditional baked sea bream prepared with Sicilian olive oil, to astonishing madeleines made with olive oil from Haute-Provence and pumpkin fritters made with Catalan olive oil.

The Connoisseur's Guide, provides information on selecting, appreciating and buying fine olive oils. Like wine olive oils have grand cru, French for great growth and best years.

Olive oil is a mono unsaturated fat, which rids the body of bad cholesterol (LDL) and increases good cholesterol (HDL) in the blood.

• Olive oil is rich in vitamins particularly E and K.
• Cold pressed extra virgin olive oil is the most expensive and pure form.
• Store olive oil in dark glass or stainless steel in air tight containers in a dark cupboard. 
• Soak herbs in your olive oil to add flavor. 
• One part butter to one part olive oil, mixed well and chilled for a low calorie spread.
• Olive oil may be used in various cooking methods.
• Dip your bread in it. 
• Create your own salad dressings.

You can learn about the different types of olive oil and their flavors and use it daily in your own kitchen for the full benefits to your health and the full flavor to your pallet.

To order Olive Oil - by Jacques Chibois and Olivier Baussan, click here!