Alsace wines from green grapes such as Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Muscat, Sylvaner and others normally carries the grape variety on the label. But this presupposes that the wine is white. If the color deviates from the standard, it merely meets the requirements to be sold as Vin d'Alsace grape but without grape designation. Since some years, Domaine Loew makes a true rosé of Sylvaner by allowing the skins to be present during the fermentation. Then the alcohol out extracts red/blue colored anthocyanins from the skins, enough for the wine to be become discolored in the legal sense. 


Premieres Vendanges de Marguerite from Caroline and Etienne Loew in Westhoffen has a bright pale red color. The fragrance bursts with strawberry, raspberry and forest honey. The taste is light and tangy, with an acidity as of cranberries with a nice berry fruit, and a small roughness in the completely dry aftertaste. A wine that is not only made ​​of organic grapes, but is a genuine Vin Biologique that has been vinified with a minimum of intervention. Fun! Price (2014): € 8.90.

2007 Riesling Ostenberg, Etienne Loew

Riesling is a grape that can present a wide palette of aromas, from green apple and citrus aromas to honey, pineapple and floral aromas. The fragrances  originate from a group of chemicals called terpenes, and there are six such substances which together dominate the scent palette of young Riesling. What we actually experience is the cumulative effect of these substances, not the compounds  individually. In the must, terpenes are highly bound to glycosides but are partially released by fermentation. The higher the pH in the fermentation is, the more terpenes are released, adding to the olfactory structure of the wine. Therefore, the berries' must need to be ripe for the aroma to become rich and complex.

2007 Riesling Ostenberg by Etienne Loew in Westhoffen has a developed and complex aroma of orange blossom, ginger and honey. The flavour is rich, mild and supple with a mature and pleasant acidity that slowly evolves on the palate. A wine from oolitic limestone from the Jurassic period  which is very similar both in terms of geological origin and aromatic character to a Altenberg de Bergheim. Price: € 10.

2005 Riesling Bruderbach Clos de Frères, Etienne Loew

Westhoffen is a village gifted with many types of soils and bedrock.
Side by side with classic muschelkalk, one finds white, read and green marl on the ridges that surround the village, forming a protective amphitheater with a stable climate without extremes.

2005 Riesling Bruderbach Clos de Frères grows on calcareous sand with marbles of muschelkalk and dolomite, CaMg(CO₃)₂. The aroma is developed with dates, honey, citrus and a toasted aroma reminding of coffee. This toasted character is also in the flavor which is long, medium-full, elegant and fruity. The acidity develops on the palate and finishes high and crispy, a fingerprint of an Alsace terroir rich in alkaline substances. Price: € 8,20

2004 Riesling Bruderbach, Etienne Loew

Etienne Loew, this young wine-maker in Westhoffen continues to impress with a homogeneous range of wines on an extraordinary high level. Regardless of grape variety or type of terroir, Etienne Loew manages to convey personality into every wine he makes.

2004 Riesling Bruderbach glows in deep greenish gold. The aroma offers yellow apples, pears, figs and a whiff of arrack.The taste is fruity with melon, mature apples and red grapefruit, a full mid-palate, great balance and superb acids. The finish reveals undeveloped minerality. Price: € 8.20.

2005 Muscat Marnes Vertes, Etienne Loew

Spring time is asparagus time. June allows us to indulge a creamy asparagus soup, Risotto milanese with tender bud of green asparagus, and the hedonistic marriage of asparagus and a sauce hollandaise, charged with fine strips of lemon peel.

2005 Muscat Marnes Vertes from the dynamic Etienne Loew in Westhoffen is almost white. One the nose, you will find the fingerprint grapy aroma, passion fruit and a hint of mint. The taste bears has astringency typical of marly terroirs. Heaven can wait! Ex cellar price: € 7.50.