Aromatic whites showcased at Alsace Festival

One of the more pressing challenges today for small California wine regions is to find a successful marketing niche, a unique way to say to wine drinkers that we are offering something different. For years, Anderson Valley, a conclave of small wineries in Mendocino County known for pinot noir, operated just under the radar of many wine consumers and the wineries felt the need for a change.

So, in 2006 Anderson Valley winemakers banded together to find a new way to bring attention to the region and its aromatic white wines. What they came up with is the International Alsace Varietals Festival, and the 2017 edition is slated for February 25 at the Mendocino County Fairgrounds in Boonville. As we transition from cooler temperatures and heavier red wines to warmer weather, a transition to lighter aromatic white wines, like riesling, gewürztraminer, pinot gris, pinot blanc and muscat seems natural.

The Anderson Valley has 2,500 acres of wine grapes; by comparison Alsace farms 39,000 acres of grapes. Riesling is king in Alsace, accounting for 8,700 acres, while in the Anderson Valley riesling acreage is shrinking, presently standing at just 22 acres.

“The decline of Riesling plantings is most likely due to the boom in popularity of pinot noir,” says John Cesano, executive director of the winegrowers association.

“Many growers have replanted old vineyards to pinot noir, or grafted some acreage over to the variety.”

Pinot noir is now planted to more than 1,700 acres in the Anderson Valley, while in Alsace, pinot noir, the sole red grape accounts for just 400 acres. Still, five wineries in the Anderson Valley make riesling.

Different aromatics

Although small compared with other wine festivals, the International Alsace Varietals Festival attracts wineries from Oregon, Washington, Michigan and New York, plus Alsace, Germany, Italy, New Zealand and Australia.

One of the attractive things about wine is the differences of aromatics and flavors in wines made from the same varietal grown in different areas. And there are other differences with the five leading white wines made in Alsace and in the Anderson Valley that should add another layer of interest at the festival.

Alsace is a small region in eastern France, separated from Germany by the Rhine River and the rest of France by the Vosges Mountains on the region’s western flank.

German riesling is known for its jasmine and spice, supported by a little (or a lot) sweetness, while Alsace riesling is drier with more mineral notes.

Although gewürztraminer is a German grape by origin, it attained world class status in Alsace as a dry spicy white wine with good structure.

There are actually two grapes with similar names: the non-aromatic traminer and the exotic lychee, spicy and rose-petal scented gewürztraminer.

At one time, a few California wineries making gewurztraminer bottled both a traminer and a gewürztraminer, based on how much spice was found in the aromatics.

The aromatic gewürztraminer is the wine we find today in Alsace and Anderson Valley. Nine wineries produce gewürztraminer in the Anderson Valley.

Pinot gris, a dry white wine that has found popularity in Oregon and northern Italy where it is known as pinot grigio, was once called Tokay d’Alsace, at least until Hungary complained to the European Union that the Alsatians were using the name of the famous sweet Hungarian Tokaji, which in fact is not made from pinot gris. Anderson Valley counts eight wineries making pinot gris.

Then, there is pinot blanc, a pleasant white wine that is sometimes mistaken for chardonnay. Pinot blanc is not a major varietal in California and only one winery in the Anderson Valley makes a pinot blanc. But in Alsace, pinot blanc is the second-most planted white grape, after riesling, although most of it goes in to making Cremant d’Alsace, the Alsatian sparkling wine.

Alsace also counts muscat, as a major aromatic dry white wine. However, the history of muscat in California hits a more minor note. There are many different muscat grapes grown in California, but only a few are suitable for wine, the others are mostly table grapes. California muscats are dry, semi-dry and sweet in style. But the confusion that stifled the popularity of muscat in California was a skid row wine called Muscatel. There are three wineries in the Anderson Valley that produce make muscat.

Lighter foods

Warmer weather also means lighter foods that go nicely with lightly chilled aromatic white wines. The choices are many: Keep it simple by serving riesling with fish or roast chicken. Or try something more complex like gewürztraminer matched with pasta with a creamy pumpkin sauce, or a savory mushroom risotto paired with pinot gris.

Traditional Italian vegetarian dishes featuring vegetables like peppers and zucchini go nicely with a riesling or gewürztraminer that has a trace of sweetness.

More food and wine pairings will be featured at the Alsace wine festival next month.

The first International Alsace Varietals Festival was held in 2006, but attendance records were not started until the following year, when 127 people attended the Grand Tasting.

Last year, attendance peaked at 365 and the festival committee is expecting a larger turnout next month.

With spring arriving in March, the Anderson Valley Alsace festival in late February is a good opportunity to learn about Alsace grapes in Anderson Valley, taste the wines and enjoy some local foods designed to go with the wines at the 2017 International Alsace Varietals Festival, Saturday, February 25, at the Mendocino County Fairgrounds in Boonville.

There will be seminars in the morning, a grand tasting in the afternoon and winery dinners in the evening.

For details, go to avwines.com, click on “Events & Tickets” and then “Alsace Festival.”