Showing posts with label Riesling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Riesling. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

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").

JoliSoleil USA Wine Club

Shipping wines bought on a tour
People touring with us often have the problem that they cannot take many wines home when they have to fly. That is why JoliSoleil Winetours started to provide a wine shipping service for tour clients. We can ship the wines people have bought on a tour to many countries in the world.

Shipping wines to the USA
In 2016 we went one step further for our American customers. We started the JoliSoleil USA Wine Club.You can now (re-)order wines from Alsace, Burgundy and Tuscany from your home, to your home. We take care of all duties and custom papers. The wines will be delivered by UPS on your doorstep. For some wines this is the ONLY way to get them as they might not be imported in your country.


Of course there are shipping costs but as the wines are not consumed in France or Italy, you do NOT pay the 20% French (VAT) or Italian taxes on the bottle. All and all shipping wines has become easy and affordable now!



ONLINE SHOP
To start with in our Wine Club we made:
  1. a selection of 8 Alsace wines from two wineries: Jean Paul Schmitt and Louis Sipp.
  2. a selection by JoliSoleil of Burgundy wines in a subscription for 1 year. You will receive 4 times 2 boxes or 12 bottles, so 48 bottles per year.
  3. a selection by JoliSoleil of Tuscany wines in a subscription for 1 year. You will receive 4 times 2 boxes or 12 bottles, so 48 bottles per year

  • You can order these wines ONLINE in boxes of 6 via our Website or direct.
  • The quoted prices in this webshop are including all shipping costs and insurances. Our shipping partner is Mbe. The wines will be delivered by UPS.
  • Registering in our Club means that you will receive our Newsletter and special offers. There is no obligation for a Club member to buy, but we are sure you will find something. 
Remember for some of our wines this is the ONLY way to get them in the USA. So ..... apply for our Newsletter or better:

Become a member and start shopping today !

Friday, January 1, 2016

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.

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

New domain "winetour.alsace" added

Alsace: Got new domain: "winetour.alsace".... fun!

So you can try out http://winetour.alsace
Now what new "email" to make for Alsace?
cool@winetour.alsace
or
jolisoleil@winetour.alsace
or
luxury@winetour.alsace.,...

To be decided later :)

Cheers!


Friday, January 23, 2015

Twelve Alsace Rieslings from Bettane+Desseauve

Checkout this post from Bettane+Desseauve about 12 great Rieslings from Alsace.
On the picture a selection.















We have tasted them all. Visit Alsace, tour with us and you can too!

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Newsletter Christmas 2014


Almost Christmas  
With still some visits to Strasbourg and Colmar and some tours to the Christmas markets in Kaysersberg, Equisheim and Riquewihr ahead, we are slowly moving to the end of the year.

Touring in 2014
We have done a lot of great tours in Alsace and Tuscany this year.
For some Alsace tours we have picked up people all the way in Basel in Switzerland and at Basel airport. Logically we stayed south on those tour days, as there are many interesting wineries to be found in the south “Haut Rhin” area, like Schlumberger and Agathe Bursin for example and we do not want to lose too much time just driving.


Bachelor parties
A couple of bachelor parties this year were great fun. On one of them we also did a boat ride on a canal near Colmar. This gave the people time to let us talk to the future groom while tasting wine and to be honest some beer too.


On another bachelor tour we visited the “Confrérie Saint Etienne” and tasted 5 Grand Cru wines of the year 2004. This was the year the groom met his bride to be.


Sadly we missed the celebration festivities of the 400th year in continuous production of our friends the family of Jean Baptiste Adam in May, as we were touring in Tuscany.




Tuscany
It was great doing two tours (in spring and early summer) in Tuscany. We cherish the private tastings at Laura Gray from Il Palazzone and with Paola from Siro Pacenti.


We were privileged to get to know the owner of Ristorante Guidoriccio in Siena (this man knows his Italian wines ….) and Gianfranco at “Il Leccio” in Saint Angelo in Colle. So many great Brunello’s came by that afternoon.


Nice guests, nice local people, great cooks, wonderful times.

It was very special to see Princess Coralia Pignatelli again in Castell in Villa, after 11 years.
In those days, 11 years ago, yours truly had just moved to France and visited the area with a Dutch Wine club. This time we did a private tasting invited in her house which was quite special as Madame understandably wants to keep her privacy.


We organized a group dinner on the premises later in the year.
We also think back on our visits at for example Gagliole and the great Chianti tasting plus lunch we enjoyed at their sister house and vineyards in Panzano.


The wine year 2014
The year 2014 saw an early spring with lots of sunshine in France and Italy. The winter had been wet with little snow. This led to landslides and problems in Tuscany.

Sadly, in July and especially August the temperatures were under normal and we had lots of rain, even in Tuscany. September and October were sunny and dry again. The weather stayed great until deep in November.

A couple of hail storms in Alsace and especially Burgundy brought lots of damage. The quality of the grapes and harvest from for example Riesling in Alsace was still good. But a big problem this year was the arrival of the Japanese Suzuki fly. It attacked the reddish skinned grapes like Pinot Noir but also Gewurztraminer, making the grapes go bad in only a few hours. Changes in harvest planning, stress, and low yields resulted.

For Sangiovese in Italy producing the great Brunello’s, it will not be a great year we heard. For Olive oil the production this year will be even worse. Because of the strange weather patterns yields are very low to practically zero. Let us hope 2015 will be more normal.



New in 2014: JoliSoleil city and genealogy tours
Although we started focusing on wine tours a couple of years ago, more and more times people asked us to do something different, helping them explore their family roots in Alsace. This was especially the case on day tours. This made us decide to add for example “City Tours” to the program with visits to Strasbourg and Colmar but also to smaller villages like Equisheim, Kaysersberg, Riquewihr and Turckheim.


Another question came two times from two different families living in the United States but with ancestors in Alsace. On one occasion we traced back a Jewish family history and visited some places that were mentioned in a family reunion some years ago. In another case we traced back two families that have lived near Reinhardsmunster and Epfig for hundreds of years. We found their names in old books and cemetery’s. But we can also find people with the name still living here today!


As Genealogy is a hobby of Terry Smits and she has access to several genealogy databases on the Internet, we will of course continue offering these special services for people that look for their roots and ancestors.

New in 2015: Burgundy tours
As wine lovers we visited Burgundy now and then over the years already of course. As driving to Beaune or Nuits St George is only a bit further then driving to Strasbourg from our farm near Gérardmer, we will take guests to Burgundy in 2015 also.


Like in Alsace and Tuscany we know our way. We took the time to visit and taste at smaller and relatively unknown wineries.


Very important is that we tried out lots of little restaurants. We think it is always a sport to find that spot that offers great quality for a good price. This means that like in Alsace we can add a great lunch and or dinner on a “one day tour” and offer the whole package still for a reasonable price.

We can also be of service now to wine & food lovers that would like to get to know Alsace and Burgundy in for example two or three days in one tour package with us.

And we will also go to Tuscany of course a couple of times in 2015. Those will only be more day tours for people that really want to wine and dine on an exquisite and connoisseur level.

Christmas 2014
At home we are working on some great Christmas dinners for family and friends. Each time we will pair two wines per course, making a selection from our favorite areas and private wine cellar.


We hope that all our guests and everybody that follows us will have a wonderful Christmas too.

We would love to meet you in 2015. And of course it would be great to see some of our relations back in another tour area in the coming year. Don't wait too long with your bookings.
We are only two people and with everything we do now, we are quite busy.
     
We wish everybody a prosperous and happy 2015 !

Cheers from Terry & Pieter Smits 


Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Riesling Vertical Tasting 1970 Vintage

It is not everyday a person is able to taste one wine that is 44 years old, and we were able to taste twelve bottles of Riesling of this vintage at one sitting! What fun! I will do my best to describe this for you.

The event took place at the castle of Kientzheim, home of the "Confrerie Saint Etienne".





The tasting was conducted starting from the South of Alsace to the North. All of the grapes were harvested in October 1970.

At this point in time "Grand Cru" did not exist yet in Alsace. Some producers did use this term already on their label though.  Another point of interest is that some "full" bottles contained 70 cl and not 75 cl as today.
All of the bottles had a cork change in 1994.

1. Clos St Lanselin: Beautiful golden color, floral to the nose, slightly acid. Amazingly this wine can still be kept longer, as it smells and tastes young. Flavor and aroma open up more in the glass, seems to be alfalfa. May still keep longer.

2. Grand Reserve Cave cooperative Westhalten. Beautiful golden amber color. Finer and more complex. On the nose a bit of honey. Balanced acidity. This one is at its end, drink it now, it will not get any better.

3. Leon Beyer Equisheim. Golden amber in color. On the nose the scent of nutmeg, and with tasting, spicy, pepper and nutmeg. Drink now.

4. Joseph Schafar Winzenheim. Golden amber color. On the nose black licorice and caramel. Shorter, less complex, lost its power a bit. Drink now.

5. De La Bourse Colmar. Light yellow in color. On the nose almond and muscat. Fresh, good acidity, lemon citrus fruit. Can keep another 5 to 10 years! Amazing.

6. Pierre Sparr Altenburg. Amber color. Tired, acidity on the end. Falls apart. Drinkable but hurry up.

7. Sick P Dryer Ammerschwihr. Light yellow. On the nose vegetable. High acidity, nice structure. Rhubarb, light sugar, light minerals specifically granite. Very clean. May keep a bit longer.

8. Preiss Hemny Mittelwihr, Mandelberg. Yellow amber in color. Not too alive anymore, nose is gone, flavor flat. Drink now.

9. Ed Rentz-Ray Zellenberg. Dark yellow color. Nose cassis fruit. Mild acidity. Drink now.

10. Gustave Lorentz - Bergheim. Orange golden color. Nose fruity. Classic attack, fresh, round short on the end with a bit of acidity. A bit more sweet, like a vendange tardive. Drink now.

11. Riesling coming from Barr. Amber in color. Nose mostly gone. Tired, low acid, short. Drink now.

12. Riesling coming from Obernai. Color yellow gold. On the nose petrol and white flowers. Round, and bites on the tongue, carbon dioxide, cold fermentation. Drink now.

My conclusion : Riesling IS the king of age in Alsace.

Cheers from Terry!



Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Domaine Marc Kreydenweiss 29th of March open house tasting review

It is really something special to be able to attend a wine tasting with the winemaker present and greeting guests and chatting about the wines in Alsace, France. It was a wonderful opportunity to take our tour guests with us also.

During the our visit we tasted mostly Rieslings.

Andlau a 2012 Riesling. It is an earthy wine, very well rounded and fruity with a hint of petrol. Fruitiness is of course the vine, yet the fruit can take on different distinctions. It is rounded, meaning it fits together in balance, smell, color, and taste. Floral, with strong mineral taste, and a bit bitter.



La Fontaine aux Enfants, a Pinot Blanc, Grand Cru D'Alsace 2012 tasted mineral, bold and outdoorsy.There are fruit flavors, and mineral flavors, good acidity, and long on the tongue.

The Wiebelsberg Grand Cru Riesling 2010 was mineral, pronounced, strong, potential, light sugar, high mineral from sandstone. This is a very clear wine, so soft, is floral, spicy, and vertical.

Wiebelsberg Grand Cru Riesling 2009 mineral, pronounced, strong, potential, more sugar, citrus, structured and tart. High mineral from sandstone.

Wiebelsberg Grand Cru Riesling 2008 mineral, pronounced, strong, potential, light sugar. Beautiful, round, one of the best years in Alsace, softer, most drinkable, high mineral from sandstone. Very long finish.



Moenchberg Grand Cru Pinot Gris 2011, from a sandy soil, wonderful not too sweet, very mineral, medium acidity, hints of almond, fresh, and not typical, very dry for a Pinot Gris.



Moenchberg Grand Cru Pinot Gris 2009 is a bit softer and more floral aromas, good acidity, a bit like a tart apple, with honey notes. A bit sweeter than 2011.

Kastelberg 2010 Riesling, lot of volume, floral and fruits, something like peat moss, and medium acidity. Minerals, citrus, and salty a bit, this wine has it all.

Kastelberg 2011 Riesling floral and fruits, something like peat moss, minerals, citrus, elegant, less acid and a bit shorter than the 2010.

Wines with a clear signature. 
Click here to visit Kreydenweiss








Monday, March 24, 2014

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.


Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Jean Baptiste Adam celebrates 400 years of wine making coming May 24 - 2014

It is a special privilege to be able to say your family has been in business for 400 years! Jean Baptiste Adam has this privilege, and will be celebrating this on 24 May 2014 with an open house wine tasting.

Established in 1614 Jean Baptiste Adam has been producing fine wines in Alsace for fourteen continuous generations. Each generation passes down the knowledge and skill of their fine craft to the next, and each new generation improves upon this.


A visit to Jean Baptiste Adam is a wonderful experience. Located in the Alsatian village of Ammerschwihr, as your first enter the building you are greeted by their family tree, tracing the generations of the Adam family from 1614 to the present day. Directly in front of the family tree is a show case of documents surviving two world wars.


Before tasting the wines we will tour the cave. Beautifully hand carved wine barrels line an underground wine cave. Dating back to the 1800's they are large barrels of elegantly aged wood that are still being used today to create the wines we will enjoy.


The old wine press appears to be made only of wood. The heavy wooden grape collecting at harvest time, are made of wood and leather. There are large wooden barrels and a carriage used to carry grapes in for pressing.


There are ceramic vats used for making the wines, and temperature control devices that can measure the temperature of the wine, and add a bit of warmth if needed.

The original sign of J.B. Adam

Carved out of wood and painted to perfection is a beautiful bust of an Alsatian women in full dress; this is the most elegantly decorated wine press screw I have seen anywhere. Every time we visit J.B. Adam, I always pause to look at her again.


The wines are exceptional. Tasting is always a treat. Starting with a Sylvaner we work our way through several samples. Sylvaner, Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir.

A specialty ot the village Ammerschwihr is the Grand Cru Kaefferkopf, a blend of Gewurztraminer and Riesling. A lovely combination in which the Riesling adds a touch of life and freshness to the fruity Traminer taste.


JB Adam produces three styles of Pinot Noir:

  • Alsatian style (vinified as a white wine), 
  • Pinot Noir "Les Natures", (biological wine)
  • and Pinot Noir  "eleve en fut de chene" (Burgundy style)

I love the toasty slightly burnt taste of the oak aged Pinot Noir. The 2009 was a superb year, 2012 was great too and almost sold out.

One wonderful expression of French wines are the purity of the wines. Jean Baptist Adam is progressive in moving further into what is known as organic wines, agriculture biological, also known as "Les Natures". These wines are produced without pesticides or chemicals and earn a special labeling. They are pure, flavorful and healthy.  

Schedule a tour with us from JoliSoleil and share with us some magical moments! We host small groups of two to twenty plus!

Learn the history, experience the wines, make memories that will last a lifetime.
Cheers!
#jolisoleil
          

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Alsace Riesling

Riesling produces a dry white wine, racy and fruity. It offers a bouquet of great finesse with hints of citrus. This wine is one of the most popular in Alsace with Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris.

In general one can say that in Alsace the style of wine making is to the dry side. That goes for example with Muscat and also with Riesling. Having said that, one should add the fact that Riesling in Alsace comes in a great variety. So also sweeter and more full bodied Riesling wines can be found.

As always the terroir (the soil) is important.
A sandy, clay like soil produces "granny smith like" round Rieslings with a acidity but also some sugar.
Granite soil produces a more vertical clear wine. It can bring a very mineral taste, dry and instead of the acidity of the green apple, an acidity more like a green lemon.
Vulcanic soil produces yet another very distinctive taste.

Very interesting is to taste a Riesling Vendange Tardive (late harvest). There is acidity on the one hand with lots of sugar and sweetness to follow.
Try one if you can find it. Not every Riesling winemaker in Alsace produces a VDT.

Some Rieslings have a flowery smell and some have a more chemical bouquet which makes you think of gasoline or petrol.
Of course it is all a matter of taste and last but not least, if you drink the Riesling just like that or combine it with food.

Suggested wine pairings
Riesling brings gastronomic excellence. It is incomparable on fish, shellfish, white meats and of course, sauerkraut.

But also pizza Hawai or Pepperoni pizza is a good combination and what to think of a chocolate dessert?
 
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