Middle Age

In Alsace, the concept of cru vineyards came very early.

In 613, the king-to-be Dagobert gave vines on the Steinklotz to the abbey of Haslach.^[5]

In Rouffach in 762, Heddo, Archbishop of Strasbourg, founded the abbey of Ettenheim and made his income from the vines of the Vorbourg.

In Bennwihr in 777, the missi dominici passing through Alsace reported favorably to Charlemagne on the quality of Beno Villare ("Beno's domain") wines from the Marckrain.

In Sigolsheim, a charter of 783 notified that the Sigoltesberg vineyard (the current Mambourg) was the common property of the nearby lords and monasteries.

In Kintzheim in the 9th century, the Benedictine abbots of Ebersmunster owned vines on the Praelatenberg ("Prelates hill"). This lieu-dit has been farmed since 823.

In Dahlenheim and Scharrachbergheim, a charter declared a high quality vineyard of the Engelberg in 884.^[6]

In Wintzenheim in the 9th century, a gift from the abbey of Murbach cited the Hengst vineyard for the first time. The lords of Hohlandsbourg and the bailiff of Kayserberg shared its feudal rights until the French Revolution.

Between 1000 and the Renaissance, other Alsatian lieux-dits have been owned by the nobility or the clergy. The wealth of the Alsatian charter-binders formed the historical basis for the delimitation of the Alsace Grands Crus lieux-dits.

Contemporary

The Alsace wine region is distinct from other French wine regions.

After the 1919 Treaty of Versailles and the return of Alsace into France, German law in this previous Reichsland was largely retained as local law. This situation held up the recognition of Alsace wines.^[7]

A 1945 local ordinance designating the origin of Alsatian wines was used as the basis for the 1962 decree establishing the Alsace AOC. Neither the ordinance nor the decree contained a word about geographical designations or an allusion to crus.

The situation began to evolve with a decree in 1975 which created the designation "Alsace Grand Cru". Its first article makes clear that wines have first to meet the Alsace AOC rules. Then, a decree in 1983 designated an additional 25 lieux-dits.

In 1985, the INAO agreed to an increase in the Alsace Grands Crus list. The same year, a decree added 25 new names.

In 1984, the Vendange Tardive and Sélection de Grains Nobles designations were introduced. In 1993, Rouffach was admitted in the Vorbourg lieu-dit. In 2001, the maximal yield was reduced. In 2005, exceptions to vine planting were allowed. The most recent additions were in 2007, bringing the total to 51 grand cru vineyards.

Geology and orography

The Alsace plain occupies the south part of the Upper Rhine Plain, which formed from a collapse during the Oligocene and is followed since the Miocene by the river Rhine. The vineyard stays on the lower slopes of the Vosges Mountains, on the fault zone of the graben, covered by alluvial fans of the many rivers and creeks flowing from the nearby heights. This explains the variety of the subsurface materials and their succession forming a true mosaic: limestone, granite, shale, gneiss or sandstone.

Mainly, the upper part of the slopes of the sub-Vosge hills consists of old rocks: pluton and metamorphic rocks like granite, gneiss or slate. Vine-planted parcels are rather steep and climb up to 478 m height (near Osenbach). The lower part of the slopes consists of layers of limestone or marl covered by loess where the slope is rather smooth.

The plain consists of a thick layer of alluvium deposited by the Rhine (silt and gravel). This zone is more fertile than the others, with an important aquifer close to the surface (less than 5 m deep): the Upper Rhine aquifer.

Such differences allow each Grand Cru to benefit from a particular terroir, even more differentiated by the climate.

Climatology

On the western side, the Vosges Mountains shield the Alsatian vineyards from wind and rain. Predominately western winds lose their moisture on the eastern side of the Vosges and arrive as Foehn winds into the Alsace plain. The precipitation mean in Alsace is the least of all French wine regions. Colmar is one of the driest cities in France.

Consequently, the climate is more temperate than expected at this latitude: the annual mean temperature is about 1.5 °C higher. The climate is semi-continental and dry with hot springs, sunny and dry summers, long autumns and cold winters.

Each of the Grands Crus benefits from a microclimate, inevitably different from place to place.

Vineyards where blends are allowed

In some Grand Cru vineyards, blends are allowed, which may also include some non-noble grapes.^[2] In Alsace, blends have usually been associated with wines of lesser quality. The producer primarily associated with high-quality blends is Marcel Deiss.