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Pinot Blanc, Cave de Turckheim 2019

4.750000000 star rating 40 Reviews
Dry but gently rounded Alsace pinot blanc, this adapts well to a wide range of dishes and is enjoyable with or without food, making it the perfect 'house' wine.
is no longer available
Code: AL15581

Wine characteristics

  • White Wine
  • 2 - Dry
  • Pinot Blanc
  • 13% Alcohol
  • no oak influence
  • Screwcap

Alsace

The region of Alsace lies in the rain shadow of the Vosge mountains in north-eastern France, divided from Germany by the mighty Rhine River. With the Vosge peaks protecting it from prevailing, rain laden westerlies it is one of the driest and sunniest parts of France outside of the far south and is a wonderful place to grow grapes.

However, the wines of Alsace are sadly still often misunderstood. Their Germanic names, flute-shaped bottles, reminiscent of their Rhine and Mosel counterparts, and diversity of styles have all caused confusion and doubt in the minds of those consumers unfamiliar with them. Furthermore the pursuit of quality through lower yields and later harvests has come with higher levels of sweetness in many wines, though most are dry and eminently suitable for drinking with food.

In contrast to many French regions, Alsace labels are relatively easy to read for many a modern wine drinker, showing as they do the grape variety clearly. There are some multi-grape blends too, ...
The region of Alsace lies in the rain shadow of the Vosge mountains in north-eastern France, divided from Germany by the mighty Rhine River. With the Vosge peaks protecting it from prevailing, rain laden westerlies it is one of the driest and sunniest parts of France outside of the far south and is a wonderful place to grow grapes.

However, the wines of Alsace are sadly still often misunderstood. Their Germanic names, flute-shaped bottles, reminiscent of their Rhine and Mosel counterparts, and diversity of styles have all caused confusion and doubt in the minds of those consumers unfamiliar with them. Furthermore the pursuit of quality through lower yields and later harvests has come with higher levels of sweetness in many wines, though most are dry and eminently suitable for drinking with food.

In contrast to many French regions, Alsace labels are relatively easy to read for many a modern wine drinker, showing as they do the grape variety clearly. There are some multi-grape blends too, and give or take some pinot noir production almost all the wines are white. The hierarchy of appellations is simple to understand too, with AC Vin d’Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru and AC Cremant d’Alsace for sparkling wines being all you need to know.

Vendange Tardive and Sélection des Grains Nobles are two further designations within those classifications for wines made from later-harvested grapes that are higher in sugar and wines made from grapes affected by botrytis (aka noble rot) respectively.

Grand cru wines must be made with grapes from a named vineyard site of that designation harvested at lower yields than those permitted for AC Vin d’Alsace wines. Though they are not all equal in terms of quality and many were granted such status to satisfy local political demands, many of these sites are producing some of the greatest wines of the region. There are about 50 such grand cru sites in Alsace and wines from these sites can only be made from four noble varieties – riesling, muscat, pinot gris and gewurztraminer – though the grand cru vineyards themselves can be planted with any permitted variety.

Curiously, though, it is often the producer name and brand that is considered of higher importance than cru, and some producers do not use the name of a grand cru vineyard on the labels of wines made from those sites. Different producers are known for their house styles and it is often this, and the trusted quality of their ‘brands’, that attracts the savvy drinker.

The grape varieties are varied. Gewurztraminer is a grape that divides people into those who love it and those who hate it. Highly aromatic, with scents of lychee, rose petals and spice (gewürz is the German word for spice), sometimes very dry and sometimes richly sweet, gewurztraminer from Alsace can accommodate many difficult food pairings. They include Thai and other aromatic Asian foods, ginger-infused foods, and washed rind cheeses such as Munster.

Muscat, so often made to be sweet in other regions, is nearly always bone dry in Alsace. Perfumed and grapy, muscat makes an excellent aperitif and partner to asparagus.

Pinot blanc is an excellent everyday wine, not so aromatic, clean and round and often blended with auxerrois with which it share a similarly clean scent and flavour profile.

Pinot gris produces full, rich wines, less spicy than gewurztraminer and capable of long ageing. It can be a superb match for food, particularly roast goose, smoked fish, Oriental dishes and a varied cheeseboard.

Sylvaner is now an endangered species, being superseded by other varieties. It makes lively, refreshing whites with good acidity that in the best examples can age surprisingly gracefully. It is often drunk with food in Alsace restaurants, particularly onion tart, ham, bacon and pork.

Riesling is, for many cognoscenti, the region’s greatest wine. Here it produces dry, fuller-bodied styles with more rounded acidity. Like its lighter, often sweeter German counterparts, it develops great complexity with age, taking on its distinctive petrol aroma.

The red pinot noir grape ripens easily in Alsace and more and more wines are being made, with more substance, colour and aroma than their historical forbears. Some from the best producers are showing the ability to age well.

Please see our How to Buy Alsace Guide in the Wine World & News section of our website for a more detailed feature on the Alsace region.
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Cave de Turckheim

The Cave de Turckheim co-operative was founded in 1955, and has been a leader in bettering the reputation of Alsace wines. It is now a substantial vineyard owner in the region, cultivating vines principally in Turckheim (a pretty village just north-west of Colmar), but also Wintzenheim, Niedermanschwihr and as far north as Riquewihr. With its partner co-op further north, the Cave Roi Dagobert which specialises in sparkling wines, it now boasts around 400 member growers.

For many people, gewurztraminer represents the quintessential taste of Alsace wine, and Cave de Turckheim grow this with passion and expertise, with its everyday wine, which is sold as an own-brand wine for many companies worldwide, to old-vine and grand cru bottlings, which offer some of the best quality the region has to offer.

They also grow several other classic Alsace varieties (many of which they have in common with their German counterparts across the Rhine) such as riesling, sylvaner, muscat, and pinot in all three of its gris, noir and blanc forms. From 2000 they have worked closely with their grand cru producers, paying more in exchange for lower yields 'made for quality' and their Riesling Brand is a Turckheim flagship.

Grapes are grown in diverse soils, including limestone, granite, gravel, marl and sandstone, all of which impart different characters and styles to the overall blend of the wines. Harvesting is both by hand and machine, depending on the character of the vineyard, and where possible,...
The Cave de Turckheim co-operative was founded in 1955, and has been a leader in bettering the reputation of Alsace wines. It is now a substantial vineyard owner in the region, cultivating vines principally in Turckheim (a pretty village just north-west of Colmar), but also Wintzenheim, Niedermanschwihr and as far north as Riquewihr. With its partner co-op further north, the Cave Roi Dagobert which specialises in sparkling wines, it now boasts around 400 member growers.

For many people, gewurztraminer represents the quintessential taste of Alsace wine, and Cave de Turckheim grow this with passion and expertise, with its everyday wine, which is sold as an own-brand wine for many companies worldwide, to old-vine and grand cru bottlings, which offer some of the best quality the region has to offer.

They also grow several other classic Alsace varieties (many of which they have in common with their German counterparts across the Rhine) such as riesling, sylvaner, muscat, and pinot in all three of its gris, noir and blanc forms. From 2000 they have worked closely with their grand cru producers, paying more in exchange for lower yields 'made for quality' and their Riesling Brand is a Turckheim flagship.

Grapes are grown in diverse soils, including limestone, granite, gravel, marl and sandstone, all of which impart different characters and styles to the overall blend of the wines. Harvesting is both by hand and machine, depending on the character of the vineyard, and where possible, Turckheim practices environmentally friendly vineyard techniques, now including some organic bottlings.
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Alsace Vintage 2019

A mild winter followed by May frosts held back ripening early in the season but hot, dry, almost drought conditions in the summer brought ripening on and in the end August rains were a welcome relief. Those rains kept the grapes on track and beautiful weather at harvest time brought them to a perfect pitch of ripeness. As such, 2019 is a very good vintage, balancing structure and ripeness with freshness and lovely aromatics that will see dry and sweet wines alike ageing very well.

2018 vintage reviews
2018 vintage reviews

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