Santé
Working a vendange, the annual wine harvest season in Alsace, you might find yourself craving the comforts of a restaurant: an intimate table, a knowledgeable and passionate server, the anticipation of a cuisine assembled out of sight. You might find yourself in the next town over, Kaysersberg, at the Bratschall Manala, guessing the grape varietal in your glass or indulging in a lineup of Chartreuse that you may or may not spoon over your crème glacé.
You may have gone to France with a quiet confidence, knowing you can converse in French with Parisian waiters and they never know you’re an American—mon dieu! You also may have ignored how close Alsace is to Germany and underestimated your comprehension beyond the Parisian accent, and you certainly were not expecting to dissect the blended regional Alsatian dialect.
You may arrive at the reprieve of the restaurant outing, exhausted from a day of netting Grand Cru vineyards, protecting them from the sangliers (wild boar), then snipping Sylvaner and passing overflowing buckets of the iridescent bunches down the steep rows of the vines, trying not to slip in the mud of this morning’s heavy rainfall, then returning to the cellar for piégeage and mentally preparing to wake up before the sunrise tomorrow to capture the grapes at peak ripeness. Tonight, you better order well.
Tartes Flambées / Flammekueche: This is the absolute embodiment of Alsatian cuisine. By the end of five long weeks of harvest, you will be sick of Tartes Flambées. Thankfully, there are many variations to choose from. These thin personal-pizza-size rounds with dough that’s both supple and charred are typically covered in a base layer of crème fraiche and topped with onions, Munster, herbs. A beloved comfort food. A shareable snack or a decadent meal.
Champignons / Pilsen: You’re a stone’s throw away from the Black Forest and the mushrooms grow wildly. You may forage them on your weekend hikes to make ravioli for the group, but tonight they are the star on the menu. Cooked in butter and served with a crusty baguette. They taste like the rain meeting the ground. They taste like the haven of cool air under the shade of the forest. The pairing of the champignons with the Sylvaner reminds you why this region of France dedicates the season to the toil of making wine.
Botrytisé: The wine list, less daunting than the menu, though just as unfamiliar, has a section reserved for vins botrytisés. You might jump to translate this to mean “bastardized wines,” but you would be wrong. These wines are made from grapes that are botrytised, which is to say that they are affected by Botrytis Cinerea, also known as Noble Rot. These rotted grapes are worth their weight in gold in Alsace. In its preferred condition, botrytis concentrates flavors in the grapes and gives them a honeyed, nutty, and delicately spicy character. You might find these wines under a section labelled “Sélection de Grains Nobles,” indicating that these are sweet wines made from grapes impacted by botrytis. They are rich in texture, high in acid, and pair delightfully with the cheese board.
Rosti Munster: Another Alsacian signature. Replace the dough base with potatoes, and Rosti is like Tarte Flambée meets gratin.
Gewurztraminer: This gem is one of the four noble grapes of the Alsace region, along with Riesling, Muscat, and Pinot Gris. “Gewurz” is German for “spiced” and “Traminer” is the German expression of the grape Savagnin, made famous in the Jura. These wines range from bone dry to ultra sweet and they are some of the best for food pairing. With signature notes of lychee, rose, ginger, and orange blossom, Gewurztraminer is an aromatic escape. A blushing sunset over the Vosges mountains. From now on, tasting Gewurztraminer will remind you of Border Collies running through the vineyard, the opening of last year's vintage, the kind, older French woman in yellow rain boots who sang her way through the harvest. Santé.
Sammi Shack is a sommelier, perfume lover, and writer living in NYC. You can read more of her writing on wine, travel, and perfume on her Substack: Notes with Notes Of.
