The Unconquered Wine

“The first casualty when war comes is truth.” --Hiram Johnson, governor of California, 1917

When war came to Alsace, the first casualty may have been wine. It certainly has suffered the longest.

The long, proud tradition of the wine trade in the region, twice in this century shattered by German military occupation, is still in recovery. But the memory of a half-century of repression keeps the fire alive in the indomitable people who inhabit the region.

For nearly 500 years, Alsace was one of Europe’s major fine wine regions. As long ago as 1481, Alsace shipped more than 6 1/2 million cases of wine, much of it rivaling Bordeaux for the attention of the wine trade.

But in 1871 Alsace was annexed by Germany as one of the spoils of the Franco-Prussian War, and the occupation--which lasted until the end of World War I--caused changes that would last even longer.

To ensure no competition for its own wine trade, the Germans ordered the ripping out of all fine-wine grapes--the so-called vignoble. The region was designated the bulk wine producer for Germany. Top varieties such as Riesling and Gewurztraminer were removed and high-volume, low-quality grapes such as Chasselas planted.

“The best Alsace wines were used to blend--in Alsace we say, ‘to improve’--German wines,” says Etienne Hugel, scion of the Hugel family, which can trace its ancestry to 1203 and its wine empire to 1637.

By the time Alsace rejoined France after World War I, fewer than 10% of the grapes planted in the Alsace were vignoble. Upgrading the vineyards proceeded slowly, because there was little demand for Alsatian wines. During the five-decade occupation, the wine world had come to assume any wines designated as Alsatian were made from hybrid grapes, not vignoble .

In 1925, to show their wines were made from fine grapes, the leading winemakers of Alsace decided to label their wines according to the grape varietal. While it showed Alsace was on the mend, it had one major drawback: In most fine wine regions of Europe, wine is identified by the soil in which the grapes grew--not the grape variety. A Chardonnay from the Yonne is called Chablis, the name of the area; the richest Nebbiolo from the hills of Piedmont near Alba is called Barolo, the name of the region. By naming its wines after grapes, Alsace distanced itself from prestige wines.

And then, even before this recovery was complete, Germany devastated Alsace again. During World War II, the German occupation forces treated the wine country more harshly than they had in the 1870-1918 period. Picturesque towns were left in ruins; vineyards were overrun; the finest cellars were raided; the local dialect was prohibited.

By the end of this six-year disaster, Alsace needed another near-complete replanting, and this time wineries had to be reconstructed too. The rebuilding of Alsace was even more difficult the second time. Where individual wineries had been, cooperatives were now built to save money. Alexis Lichine, the late wine merchant and writer, said it wasn’t until the mid-1950s that Alsace had rebuilt some of the more famous monuments, and others remained piles of rubble.

Today, Alsace and its vinous image are still in reconstruction. There are 31,000 acres of vines (about the same as the Napa Valley) and the wines are still varietally labeled. Following tradition, they are sold in the tall, slender bottles (called hocks) that are similar to those used for German wines.

Most Alsatian wine is white, and most is dry. These are steely, crisp, lean wines that mirror the soil and the stolid character of the people. They are often aged in older barrels, specifically to avoid having an oaky taste.

Tasting Hugel’s 1990 Pinot Blanc ($10), I noticed the utter simplicity and crispness of the wine. I said some Americans might say it wasn’t oaky enough.

Hugel laughed wryly and said, “In Alsace we are in the wine business, not the timber business.”

There is another problem with Alsace wines: The very thing that makes them so appealing with food, their strength of acidity, makes them difficult to evaluate alone. But that’s how most wine buyers try wines--they taste them standing up in an office at 3 p.m. If the wine tastes tart, they wince and pass. Even Gewurztraminer, flowery thing that it can be, can’t be appreciated this way.

Ah, but poured alongside an appetizer of smoked salmon on corn blini , the wine transforms the dish into a magnificent taste treat, and the food magically makes the wine more supple and intriguing. These wines also work with well-seasoned food, such as Thai or Sichuan.

The years of German occupation have clearly left a bitterness against anything German and a reluctance to admit a German heritage in Alsace. “We are a region that has the culture and the dialect of Allemagne ,” said Hugel, using the French name for Germany, which historically designates not only southwestern Germany but Luxembourg, Switzerland, Belgium and other regions.

And during separate visits, both Hugel and Eric Schlumberger pointedly referred to their product as “Alsace wine,” not Alsatian wine, which is the English usage. “Alsatian is our name for German shepherd dogs,” Hugel said. “We do not make dogs; we make wine.”

Tastings 1990 Trimbach Pinot Gris ($14)--An earthy/spicy aroma with mature pear/peach notes, not unlike mature Semillon. 1990 Hugel Riesling ($13)--Steely, lemony with a faint but appropriate oily note. The wine has a wonderful acid finish that makes delicate seafood dishes come alive. 1988 Hugel Gewurztraminer, “Jubilee,” “Reserve Personnelle” ($24)--Very complex nose of cooked pears, lychees and carnations. A rich, dense, dry wine that does wonders with spicy foods. 1990 Schlumberger “Reserve” ($9.75)--A 50-50 blend of Gewurztraminer and Pinot Blanc, this wine has huge spice and creamy notes with bold, soft flavors in the mouth. A lush and full-bodied wine. 1991 Schlumberger Pinot Blanc ($9.50)--Stylish, dry wine with mature fruit and a trace of hay in the finish. 1989 Schlumberger Gewurztraminer, Grand Cru, “Kessler” ($25)--One of the rare sweet wines of Alsace, a wine with poached pear and honey notes and a spiced apple aftertaste. Grand with fruit-based desserts.