Of Alsace, pinot noir, climate change

the Big Red, but it might take a while, as it has for Alsatian pinot noir.

Once an afterthought, pinot noir is now receiving the attention that likely will continue to help it improve as a wine style in Alsace. There’s even talk of (and some movement on) establishing grand cru pinot noir in Alsace — in a way, putting select bottlings of the wine style on par with its most celebrated whites.

Pinot noir is not a new grape variety in Alsace; there is evidence it was growing there hundreds of years ago. It has long been the sole red grape allowed in the region, but only in recent years has its quality reached new levels. This is due not only to climate change but also in part to a dedication by winemakers to plant pinot noir in higher-quality growing areas once reserved for prized white varieties. Pinot noir plantings have also increased in Alsace, rising from about 2 percent of all plantings in 1969 to a little more than 10 percent in 2014.

Like most wines in Alsace, pinot noir is produced as a 100 percent varietal and prominently identified as such on labels — by grape variety name — a rare move in France. In keeping with tradition (and the local law), Alsace pinot noir is also bottled in the so-called flutes that are common in Germany. These are the tall, slender bottles most associated with riesling, and this is another interesting break from French tradition in Alsace. Normally, pinot noir is bottled in the classic slope-shouldered bottle, not only in Burgundy (the region that lends its name to the bottle shape) but virtually all around the world too.

In addition to the still variety of pinot noir, Alsatian wine producers also use the grape for rosé versions of the region’s sparkling wine, cremant d’Alsace, which is made in the traditional method, employing secondary fermentation in the bottle. Because of the increased pressure that those wines exert, they are bottled in customary Champagnestyle bottles.

Of course, Alsace’s two most famous neighbors, Champagne and Burgundy, have a long and fruitful history with pinot noir (as Alsace has had with riesling). But now, increasingly, Alsace is able to contribute to the pinot noir conversation, and that in itself is worth celebrating.

MICHAEL TERCHA/CHICAGO TRIBUNE Pinot noir has long been the sole red grape allowed in Alsace, but only in recent years has its quality reached new levels.