Emile Beyer Tradition Pinot Blanc d’Alsace 2017

The 2017 Emile Beyer Tradition Pinot Blanc is yet another great success from Christian Beyer, who has proven to be the consummate Alsace producer by consistently fashioning superlative Riesling, Pinot Gris, and the region’s most popular wine, Pinot Blanc. The Emile Beyer 2017 Tradition Pinot Blanc offers its usual inviting bouquet, a potpourri of tender floral and orchard fruit scents reminiscent of ripe apples and Bosc pears, all infused with a delightful fresh minerality. The mineral driven underpinning provides a delightful counterpoint to the wine’s ripe fruit, lending a racy feel that sets Beyer’s Pinot Blanc above the rest of the pack. The delightful combination of fruit, minerals, and natural acidity make this wine so easy to like. Although easy to understand and enjoy, Beyer’s sustainably produced 2017 Pinot Blanc remains more than a good quaff as it evolves in the glass, revealing depth and subtle complexity. We suggest affording the charming 2017 Emile Beyer Tradition Pinot Blanc a moderate chill (40° F) before allowing it a few minutes in the glass to reveal every bit of its charm. Enjoy!

Emile Beyer’s Tradition Pinot Blanc always offers plenty to like, and this is certainly true of Emile Beyer’s outstanding 2017 Tradition Pinot Blanc. The wine’s flavor, balance, and overall inviting manner make it easy to pair with a wide variety of cuisines and dishes, even foods that are typically difficult to pair with wine. Traditional Alsatian favorites such as Choucroute Garnie (ham, pork ribs, and sausage cooked in sauerkraut and served with spicy mustards), Quiche Lorraine, leek tarts, country pâtés, and pork roasts always provide tasty accompaniments to Christian Beyer’s balanced, flavorful Tradition Pinot Blanc. Equally rewarding are lighter, heart healthy selections such as baked or grilled cod, flounder, grouper and monk fish. Seafood salads, mussels, scallops, and fish chowders supply additional first-rate accompaniments. And Emile Beyer’s 2017 Tradition Pinot works wonders with cuisines and vegetables that are often challenging to pair with wines such as Pad Gra Prao (Thai Chicken with Basil), Chicken and Broccoli in a garlic sauce, Asian noodles, and stir fries made with vegetables such as asparagus and Brussels sprouts. So, why not be daring and experiment? Bon Appétit!

A recent visit to Domaine Emile Beyer was one of the great highlights of our recent trip to France thanks to the Beyers’ warm welcome and the superlative wines produced at this venerable property. Domaine Emile Beyer and nearly five centuries of history in Alsace remain intertwined. Since the year 1580, at least 14 generations of the Beyer family have lived in their ancestral home and cultivated vines in the picturesque village of Eguisheim, unquestionably one of the greatest wine communes in Alsace. Each successive generation of Beyers, profoundly rooted in the vineyard and land, have in turn passed on their passion for wine to the next generation. And we the consumers are the beneficiaries. Moreover, since the coming of age of Christian Beyer, the domain’s present guardian, Beyer’s wines have ascended to the very highest level of quality.

Under the present leadership of youthful Christian Beyer, the venerable domaine of Emile Beyer cultivates 17 hectares (37.5 acres) of prime vineyards in Eguisheim, including two grand cru sites, from which Beyer fashions exceptional wines. “Giving happiness, with elegant wines: this is what I take pride in doing,” is Christian Beyer’s mantra, and by all accounts Beyer succeeds in doing just that year in and year out, almost in defiance of the vagaries of each vintage. From estate vineyards Beyer produces an enviable portfolio of wines, which include outstanding Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Riesling, and Gewürztraminer. Muscat, Sylvaner and Pinot Noir also figure highly in the mix. In short, there is no dearth of fine wine from Domaine Emile Beyer.

Alsace is quite possibly the most picturesque wine region in all France. It is an enchanted land of beautifully restored half-timbered houses, flower bedecked balconies and window boxes, and of course vineyards. Alsace is bounded by the Vosges Mountains to the west, which block out the dreary maritime weather that plagues so much of the rest of northern France, and the Rhine River and Germany to the east. On account of its favored position and corresponding climate, Alsace is the sunniest province in northern France. This extra sunshine makes Alsace an ideal spot for the cultivation of the vine and the production of premium white wines from Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Riesling, and Gewürztraminer – the vast majority of which are made dry – and increasingly fine red wine from Pinot Noir. Robert Parker Jr. has called the wines of Alsace “some of the greatest white wines produced on the planet,” and some of the most pleasurable and hedonistic, too.