The Alsace region: a blessing for vineyards!

A generous climate…

The plain of Alsace and especially the vineyards, located on the Vosges spurs, benefit from the protection of the mountain. It acts like a climatic barrier and stops the oceanic influences coming from West. Colmar, with about 450 – 500 mm of annual rainfall is one of the driest cities in France.

Alsace climate has a semi-continental character. Summers are hot and stormy, falls are sunny and winters are hard. However the general South-East orientation of the vineyards moderates this continental climate. Even if the sum of temperatures remains low in Alsace, the amount of sunshine is very significant.

The Alsatian grape varieties are especially well suited to this climate, which allows a slow and extended ripening and the blooming of very fine aromas. There is no other place in the world where these grapes give such a pure and intense expression!

… and crowds of various terroirs!

The Alsace vineyards are planted on one of the most tremendous geological faults known in Europe. 50 million years ago, a tectonic episode broke the former Vosges – Black Forest range, giving birth to the two ranges of mountains and a rift valley: the Rhine plain. Climatic changes and erosion then shaped the landscape, giving it the face we know. We distinguish three main sets in the Alsace vineyards:

• West: the Vosges mountains. The vines are hooked on the massif, in old rocks (granite, sandstone…). The plots are often very steep.
• East : the alluvial plain. The Rhine rift and the different valleys of the Vosges have been gradually filled with sediments carried by the rivers. These lands have deep and rich soils.
• In the middle, the foothills of the Vosges correspond to a field of little faults crossing each other, resulting in a patchwork of different limy rocks. There are a lot of small rocks sets, more or less eroded, accounting for the different geological episodes.

These varied types of rock gave birth to very different soils. Experience shows that vines do not develop the same way in each of these soils. They even produce wines that are totally different.

In addition of the soil composition, altitude, slope, exposure, or the proximity of a waterway or a forest cause fundamental changes in the life of the plant and the composition of the grapes. In the end, each hillside of the Alsatian vineyard produces a different wine.

And the Paul BUECHER vineyard?

The estate of the Paul BUECHER family stretches over ten villages. Principally around Colmar, and a new vineyard in Leimbach, in the South of the Alsace wine route. These areas are the sunniest and the driest in the region. The proximity of forests, mountains, or even the difference in altitude (190 to 430 meters) have an influence on the microclimate of certain terroirs, making them less arid.

We cultivate more than 50 parcels spread out on all the different terroirs in the Colmar region. This mix of soils allows us to find the best place to plant each of our grape varieties.

These terroirs are represented in the table below. It shows specifically the surfaces, the grapes planted and the characteristics of the wines.