I’ve preached the gospel of how much value you can find in the picturesque French region of Alsace so many times that frankly I’m shocked these wines haven’t seen the price hikes that almost every other region has. But here’s the rub: Good Alsatian Riesling may be the most overlooked fine wine value around. For relatively little money, you get a wine with tons of history behind it (in this case, a vineyard first farmed by Benedictine monks in the ninth century) and a classic expression of a noble grape that is chock full of texture and minerality. Is it the concern over sweetness? Well Grand Cru Alsactian is generally dry, maybe not bone dry, but the fruit is never sweet or cloying. And today’s 2018 is at a perfect stage in its evolution, still electrifyingly fresh and aromatic but also starting to show off some slightly cheesy, mushroom-y notes that have developed with time. If you’re like me and can’t resist putting your nose into a glass of olfactory fireworks then you need a stash of this wine; and look at the price, you can’t afford not to stock up!
The story of the Allimant-Laugner estate stretches back to 1816. When Françoise-Antoine Allimant returned from the Napoleonic Wars, he purchased some vines to supplement his family’s farm holdings. For over a hundred years, the Allimant clan farmed grains, stone fruits, and other crops alongside their grapes. When Mariette Allimant and her husband René Laugner came into the fold in 1949, the family made a major change. They began to bottle the wine they made at the estate rather than sell it to a négociant, and thus switched their farming focus to viticulture. Mariette and René’s grandson Nicolas now heads up the property, and he’s brought his own ideas with him. Their 12 hectares of vines are now in conversion to organic farming, and they now use strictly spontaneous fermentations in the cellar.
The estate grows the full range of Alsatian varieties, but as is generally the case here Riesling is planted to their most prized parcels. That includes the steep-sloped “Praelatenberg” Grand Cru, which sits almost exactly in the middle of the long band of Grand Cru vineyards that stretches the length of the Alsace region. Situated along the lower eastern slopes of the Vosges Mountains, at elevations ranging from 200 to 400 meters, the assorted Grand Crus are known for their complex geology, with granite and gneiss bedrock overlain with assorted sedimentary soils such as sandstone, limestone, and marl. “Praelatenberg” is dominated by granite and gneiss, and is known for its complex aromatics and rocky minerality.
In addition to converting the family vineyards to organics, Nicolas Laugner uses only ambient yeasts in his fermentations, which begin spontaneously and proceed slowly over the course of many weeks in stainless steel. The finished wine is left to age in tank on its fine lees (yeast sediment) for about six months before bottling. Although there is palpable residual sugar (about 6 grams/liter usually), the wine is considered a sec (dry) style, with ample acidity to balance the sweetness.
As it approaches its sixth year of bottle age, the 2018 “Praelatenberg” has blossomed into a gorgeously complex wine. It’s generally good to go right after you pull the cork, but giving it a quick decant will help to quickly unlock its full potential. Serve in all-purpose stems at about 50 degrees and you’ll be treated to a concentrated golden core with straw and silver reflections at the rim. The aromatics are intense and high-toned, with characteristics of apricot, green peach pit and secondary aromas of green mango peel, dried wild mushrooms, honey and a touch of raw almond. On the palate, it is bone-dry and full-bodied—a wine that makes a lasting impression on the palate and the finish, with many more years of delicious drinking ahead of it. For a delicious and über-classic pairing, serve it with choucroute garnie. This is sooo much wine for about $30. Grab a bunch!
