Crémant d'Alsace Extra Brut 2020, Mélanie Pfister

Crémant is the term used for any sparkling wine made using the Champagne method but that does not come from the region of Champagne itself. From female winemaker Mélanie Pfister, extended time on the lees gives this wine all the nutty and yeasty notes we want from a classic method sparkling wine, but also shows the unique terroir of the Alsace region. There is a vibrant core of fruit, balanced by a firm backbone of minerality. And it is oh so dry! If you like Champagne and other classic sparkling wines, we encourage you to give this one a try!

About the Winery

The acronym Breit comes from Hangenbriete, the name of the vineyard. The appellation rules for this wine were promulgated in 1976, and Mélanie’s father started making crémant in the early 1980s. From the first, he worked with a long aging period. Today, the Pfisters consistently make an unusually elegant, perfumed, top-end crémant. The wine rests on its lees for a minimum of twenty-four months (most French crémant, regardless of origin, ages on its lees for about nine months or so). There are three to four disgorgements of a given year’s production, and what you’re drinking could have aged as long as thirty-six months on its lees. This is a single-vintage wine without any older reserve wine, but the vintage is kept discreetly on the back label rather than printed on the front because of the multiple disgorgements. The final sentence in the back label text gives the exact number of months of aging on the lees. Production averages 800 cases annually; dosage is 3-4 grams per liter, making this an extra brut.