Alsace ~ Strasbourg & Colmar ~

After visiting Reims, we went to Strasbourg ( http://www.strasbourg.eu//accueil ) to visit Alsace wine route.  Strasbourg is also historical place, and we visited Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-Strasbourg ( http://www.cathedrale-strasbourg.fr/ ).  The canal flow though the city decorated by flowers, and the town view was so beautiful.  We enjoyed Tarte Flambee such as pizza and beer.  Last night, we had a dinner at Au Crocodile ( http://www.au-crocodile.com/ ), one stared by Michelin.  It seems that they try to create new essences such as Japanese taste "YUZU".  Their taste was a little salty for me, but I thought Alsace located in northern place may tend to prefer salty like Tohoku, Japan.  By the way, the bird of city is Oriental stork: KONOTORI in Japanese which is called a fortune bird, so we could see them and their nest on the roof at many places.

After staying in Strasbourg, we went for Colmar.  The Alsace wine road ( http://www.alsace-route-des-vins.com/ ) start from western Strasbourg to Mulhouse, the length is approximately 170km.  Some small villages are also famous for flower which are decorated beautifully.  Alsace region wine is made of white grapes, mainly Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer and Muscat.  Especially, Gewürztraminer have strong flavour characters such as rose and litchee.  The character of Alsace wine tend to be fermented by old and large cask.

We quickly visited two wineries, Marcel Deiss  ( http://www.marceldeiss.com/ ), and Josmeyer ( http://www.josmeyer.com/index.php?entrer=1&langue=en ), and one cellar door, Hugel ( http://www.hugel.com/ ).  When we visited there, they are in working state of pressure.  Marcel Deiss is famous for cultivation of grapes, so sometimes, breeding by crossing are created naturally.  According to their brochure, current wine maker, Jean-Michel Deiss manage the domaine of 26 hectares of hillside vineyards spread over 9 communes and approximately 20 km.  Then he has focused on producing complexity and concentration, and the results reach to three broad categories: Fruits, Terroirs, and Temps.  We could taste 6 kinds of wines there.

Josmeyer is also a family winery and has brewed since 1854.  They begun the way of organic and bio dynamic from 2000.  We could tasted 5 kinds of wines there, and their label was sophisticated design.  The Hugel is pioneers of wine growing in Alsace, and they have managed since 1639.  We tasted 7 kinds of wines, 1) Riesling Tradition 2007 2) Pinot Gris Tradition 2008 3) Gewurztraminer Tradition 2008 4) Pinot Noir Jubilee 2007 5) Pinot Gris Jubilee 2005 6) Pinot Noir Jubilee 2007 7) Gewurztraminer Selection de Grain Nobles 2005.

Thank you for your reading to the end.