Caves and Wineries in Ribeauville

WINE TALK
41

I understand. But that inflexibility is why you’re having difficulty securing appointments. You’re talking about visiting family-operated wineries, and everyone involved is extremely busy. To be blunt, your convenience is not their priority.

You can almost always book a driver or taxi. Talk to your hotels. I think it would solve a lot of your problems. Or, as I and several others have suggested, find a way to get yourself to Riquewihr (Le Schoenenbourg is a nice hotel, but there are others) and you’ll have plenty of options in and out of the city walls.

42

Piggybacking on this thread. Thor (or anyone), where would you recommend staying in Alsace? I.e., which town (but specific hotel recs are welcome). We will have a car when we’re there (November), so can stay anywhere and still go where we like. Quaintness and scenery are definitely of interest. Have a couple restaurants to walk to would be nice, but not mandatory.

43

Totally depends on your interests. If strictly wine tasting, then stay somewhere in the northern Haut-Rhin (between Kaysersberg/Ammerschwihr and Bergheim. A lot of wineries you might want to visit are a bit of a drive, but the drives are beautiful and it’s as central as you can get.

If there’s interest in culture and wine, then stay in Colmar. Advantage: walking to some very good restaurants, shortish drives to others, and most of the best wineries in the Haut-Rhin aren’t overly far.

If you’ve interests in the mountains, then Kaysersberg is perfect as it’s already 1/3 of the way up to the Vosges.

A truly ideal stay in Alsace would be: fly into Basel/Mulhouse, stop at Antony as it’s very nearly the best cheesemonger in the world, then drive to Colmar/Ribeauvillé/Kaysersberg/wherever you’re staying, taste wine and tour villages and go to the Unterlinden, then head north to Obernai for a few days and do the same, then finish in Strasbourg. Maybe ten days, if you’re efficient. Two weeks if you’re into relaxing.

You’ll want to rent a place with a kitchen at some point because you will not, unless you’re there for white asparagus season, have a vegetable otherwise. :wink:

I’ll say that, for myself, staying in Colmar (or Strasbourg, or Mulhouse) was nice in terms of walking back from wine-soaked dinners and for groceries, but staying in the smaller villages was immensely more rewarding. So much more peace and quiet. Do some restaurant research and pick one with a few options, then stay there. That’s my best advice.

Quaintness: Kaysersberg, Ribeauvillé, Eguisheim, Turckheim, Bergheim, Obernai. Really, though, there are few villages in Alsace that aren’t charming. (Ammerschwihr and Epfig are two.) You can hardly go wrong.

Hotels: I’ve mostly rented gîtes, but in the past I can say that one of the best hotels in Alsace is Le Parc in Obernai. Lavish, fabulously expensive, good restaurants and bars inside (when I was there, it was totally traditional; it’s very much not anymore). I’m sorry I don’t have more recs for you, but I’ve always rented places so I can drink the wines I’m buying and have the occasional f-ing vegetable!

44

I visited Cave de Tain in March. They put some ridiculous amount of money into a renovation for single block fermentations. The tank room is beautiful. Right outside you can see one Chapoutier’s organic block with the horses plowing. The higher end wines are really good. We had a special group tour so I’m not sure what they do for others. They were also winery of the year recently.

http://lyon-saveurs.fr/cave-de-tain-lhermitage-international-winery-of-the-year/

45

Having stayed in Colmar, Eguisheim, Riquewihr and Kaysersberg I really do not have a problem with any of those. Colmar is obviously so much bigger than the others. If you decide to stay in Kaysersberg there is a nice family-run restaurant called Le Moreote (booking necessary).

46

Perhaps an option in Tain would be Ferraton. They are owned by Chapoutier but it seems they are run independently and I believe they have a tasting room in the town of Tain. I think you may need to call ahead but should be quite flexible as they have sales staff there and not people who have to come in from the vineyard.

47

Weinbach - try and get an appt. I just sent an email. Extolled the virtues of their wines and how much I liked them (not a lie!). That was enough to secure it.

48

Thanks Alsace guys,

The best thing happened: Trimbach got in touch and offered us an appointment! Thanks for all the advice. We’ll see what else we have time for when we get there, but I like not having too much of the trip fixed. Take things as they come.

Cave de Tain sounds like a great option. I think we’ll probably go there. I’ve been to Chapoutier already. Ferraton looks an interesting option. Thanks!

49

I’m pleased to hear that.

It would be interesting to visit Kientzler before or after Trimbach. You can walk to it (about 15-20 minutes), and they have a tasting room with regular public hours. Like Trimbach they’re focused on a drier style, and make wine from the some of the same terroirs.

Alternatively, there are other producers in the village of reasonably good quality: two Sipps (Louis & Jean), Joggerst, and Henry Fuchs. There’s also the Cave de Ribeauvillé, and the excellent Metté distillery. Or just walk around the town. I highly recommend lunch (or dinner) at Zum Pfifferhus, though you’ll want to make a reservation and skip breakfast.

50

Cheers Thor,

I’ll keep referring back to this thread between now and trip time. Lots of excellent information.

Thanks!

51

Agreed. In my opinion, an underrated producer. Unfortunately, they seem to have spotty distribution in Seattle area. Tasted a wide assortment of their wines during my last visit there. Their Cornas was an especially pleasant surprise. They also had an interesting range of library wines available, at pretty reasonable cost.

If you do taste there, I’d also recommend you follow the marked trail they’ve set up to hike the Hermitage hill. The view from the Chapel is fantastic.

52

Thanks, I’ve been to the tip of the HoH in a car before, but my friend hadn’t, so hiking up would be new for both of us. Just hope, being there in July, it’s not too hot. Hmmm years ending in 7 are always hot, right? :slight_smile:

How does CdT compare with Chapoutier quality-wise?

53

Getting down to the fine details now. We have a slot 8:30-10:30 in Ribeauville. What would be the best thing to do then? Obviously wine tasting would be ideal. Ideally a small number of good wines, but a larger number of mundane one would be better than nothing.

Thanks!

54

Very few producers in Alsace make a small number of wines.

Tasting rooms are going to close at 11:30, as a rule. I provided a short list of places you might visit somewhere upthread; check their hours. For example, you won’t have time to visit and do any justice to Kientzler in 45 minutes. But it’s likely your tasting will run over unless they want to get rid of you, so at that point I’d just wander around the village (which is extremely attractive) until it’s time for lunch.

Don’t be late for your appointment. Alsatians are extremely annoyed by tardiness.

55

Thanks, Thor. I will reread your excellent suggestions.

56

We usually stay in Ribeauvillé when we are in Alsace to taste and buy, and actually the best experiences we have had have been at the Cave de Ribeauvillé. Trimbach last October was a bit of a disappointment, Moulin de Duesenbach in the Main Street is very poor quality but the Cave has offered us unlimited tastings of good to very good - albeit not great - wines. Their lineup is huge, staff very friendly and qpr we have seen in this region. Each time we have been able to choose freely from a very long list of wines. Their opening hours are quite good, too! They are situated just across the roundabout at the beginning of the Main Street. I am in no way affiliated, I just really like the place :slight_smile:

57

I hope you mean 8:30 - 10:30 AM.

But if still looking to do wine tasting, you may want to try Domaine Henry Fuchs. Last Christmas evening while dining in Strasbourg, I qoogled and sent an email request for appointment, as I happened to have ordered a very enjoyable bottle of their riesling GC, and Paul Fuchs, the son who is also now the main guy, agreed to meet with wife and I two days later in their small tasting room in their home/winery. I was impressed with the breadth of wines and Paul, who speaks good English, was accommodating and provided about 7 different wines for us to sample, including a tour of the operations in their home.

58

Visited at Paul Blank a few years ago and was very impressed by their wines, as you were.

I have not tasted any Weinbach wines made since Laurence Faller died. Apparently, you liked them - any changes in style or quality at the domaine?

59

Great information guys! Much appreciated!