List of french appellations - where to find it?

Quick googling turned up

Note that the Burgundy list has the villages and the GCs, but it doesn't list which vineyards are entitled to 1er Cru status (and Alsace doesn't list Grand Crus, etc.)

Dale

Dale Williams Drop "damnspam" to reply

Yes, but it does not specify that wines should be labelled as dry or semi-sweet or sweet. This is quite maddening, you don't know until you open the bottle or ask someone who has already tasted it. The Germans at least label this. So you see, even in Alsace the labelling is incomplete.

It is too bad, before I met you I did not know there were ANY crus in Champagne...

How is the millesime looking? With all this heat and the storms, I am surprised you are still talking of harvest...

And BTW, when will you make another Vintage?

It started as a nasty exchange a few months ago, very ugly. So what you are reading now is quite tame in comparison. No, it has gone back to civilized discussion. And people have decided to boycott only bad expensive french wine... ;-)))

Cheers

Mike

I agree it can be maddening. But there's hope beyond Trimbach. I have previously mentioned reports that Olivier Humbrecht is including sweetness ratings on back label as of 2001 vintage of Zind-Humbrecht. I've had regular Z-Hs that range from bone-dry to fully sweet, and you can't neccesarily tell from the bottling- the same vineyard/grape combo can be off-dry one year, bone dry the next, and fairly sweet the following. I admire Olivier for his dedication to his beliefs (concentration and terroir dominance), but his decisions to let the wine ferment to it's "natural" point can lead to confusion. This scale should help. This is scale he is using for his non-late-harvest wines: "Indice: level of sweetness on the palate. This note combines the sweetness, acidity, alcohol and overall structure of the wine. It ranges from 1 to 5. 1: totally dry (

So the only country where all wines carry a sweetness indication (by law) seems to be Austria.

M.

Hi Mark:

Funnily enough, I've got an 1989 Prince P Aigle Blanc in the drinking queue. I THINK it'll be offdry, but we'll see! Dale

Dale Williams Drop "damnspam" to reply

I certainly don't think many people here would regard your answering my questions as spam. I'm going to CA Sunday, maybe I'll call Joshua Tree (I'll be in Laguna, not that far from Pasadena). Thanks for info.

As an aside, CA state laws are somewhat easier on stores as importers than most states. So lots of unique things (and grey market stuff) ends up there. They're not free of the 3-tier system, but it strangles them less. Maybe you'll hook up with a small high-quality but national-scale US importer (Terry Thiese, or maybe Joe Dressner - I think he only imports Leclapart right now).

Thanks for info. I'll try to locate, or I'll have to wait till I go to France again :(

Dale

Dale Williams Drop "damnspam" to reply

. I've had regular : Z-Hs that range from bone-dry to fully sweet, and you can't neccesarily tell : from the bottling- the same vineyard/grape combo can be off-dry one year, bone : dry the next, and fairly sweet the following.

Gee, this sounds like the old Prince Poniatowski(sp?) Vouvrays. He refused to even label the bottlings with 'moulleux' 'sec' etc. saying 'the vintage should speak for itself'. Yes, but is that _cremant_ in that bottle? :)

Mark S

Very clear now. Thanks to you both!

Mark Lipton