Bestheim

One of the founding wine houses in the development of Crémant d’Alsace

Bestheim is an Alsace wine cellar cooperative with more than 250 years of history and wine tradition. The story begins in 1765 when Heim was founded in Westhalten. Over the years, this old trading house has grown, thanks in particular to closer links with other wineries in the region. The Bestheim brand was founded in 1997 on the occasion of the merger of the Bennwihr and Westhalten cellars.

Today Bestheim represents approximately 500 families of Alsatian wine growers spread over 1450 hectares. This large expanse is a force that allows it to benefit from a great mosaic of terroirs among which, some great vintages of the most famous like Grand Crus Schlossberg, Mambourg or Zinnkoepflé. This year, Bestheim celebrates its twentieth anniversary.

V.d.V.: Where does the name Bestheim come from?

The name of Bestheim comes from the association of the names of the origins of the two cellars associated with the trade name which was already merged with the cellar of Westhalten: the HEIM House. Either BE (from Bennwihr) - ST (from Westhalten) - HEIM (trader). Our name also has an international dimension in its consonance with both English and German.

V.d.V.: What is the signature of the Crémants Bestheim? We have a gastronomic approach during winemaking.We have two ranges of Crémants, one more ‘classic’ and one more ‘gastronomic’ called « Grand Prestige ». In both cases we always have a beautiful aromatic expression and good maturities, thanks to the importance given to the diligence of the vineyard and our winegrowers.

The ‘classic’ range aims to present Crémants fruité, pleasant, well made, easy to open on any occasion. For the ‘gourmet’ range we have a creamy foam / effervescence due to aging on slats with a minimum of 18 months of aging for the rosé and 36 months for the white. They are more sophisticated Crémants, more marked by the terroir, coming mainly from calcareous soils. They are very fruity, without aggressiveness and reveal fine notes of almond at the end of the mouth.

We are continually striving to go further, in search of excellence.We do not rely on lessons learned alone.We would like to go little by little towards wines that are even more chiselled.

V.d.V.: If you were to present Bestheim in 3 or 4 adjectives?

I will give 3 values of the brand, namely: boldness, sharing and elegance.