Alsace: The Land of in-Between

Alsace as a geological concept started 54 million years ago with the collapse of a graben forming the Vosges mountains to the west and the Black Forest to the east. The Rhine River would take this new low route to flow towards the sea, dividing the region and laying the groundwork for the political history to come.

History shaping Wine

Grapevines were introduced to the Vosges slopes by the Romans who occupied the area and built the fortified border encampments of Strasbourg and Mulhouse to protect their Rhine frontier.

The Rhine would serve as the natural boundary between the Latinate West and the Germanic East. When the Romans left, the Frankish king Clovis would occupy the area. The Merovingian successors would occupy the land that would become Alsace as would their successors in the Carolingian Dynasty.

A Land of Division

After the death of Charlemagne, his Carolingian Dynasty was thrown into disarray. The Holy Roman Empire that he had forged was divided into three parts. West Francia would become the majority of what we know as Modern France. East Francia the Holy Roman Empire that would eventually unite into Germany.

Between these two states, the grandson of Charlemagne would inherit Lotharingia. The heart of Europe would now become the battleground between the states to either side, and the culture of Alsace would be shaped by this conflict.

The Rhine River had been the boundary of Roman conquest. Alsace's was on the left bank, but the unique offerings of the Vosges mountains (which shielded grapevines from the rain that swept neighboring Lorraine) provided another sub-frontier. Alsace found itself pinched between natural boundaries.

Food in Alsace

So for our food pairing to discuss Alsace we’ll be making choucroute granier. This traditional dish of the region involves what we would call sauerkraut and cured meats.

• 4 Pork Chops

• 6 slices bacon

• 1 whole white onion

• 1 large sausage (kielbasa)

• 1 jar sauerkraut

• 1 cup Alsatian wine

Let’s toss this into the oven at 300° for the next hour and a half.

Germanic Alsace

Lotharingia didn't last very long, and Alsace was incorporated into the fledgling Holy Roman Empire. The area remained a wild periphery to the already feudal empire. In the 14th century, Alsace was governed as a set of city-states known as the Décapole.

Things didn't improve with the arrival of Martin Luther. Alsace became a Protestant stronghold in contrast to the Roman Catholic bastion of Baden across the Rhine. Religious wars would escalate until the Thirty Year's War eventually turned Alsace into one of its key battlefields.

French Alsace

The Treaty of Westphalia saw the Rhine reestablished as the boundary between France and the diminished Holy Roman Empire. Alsace thus became French, to the chagrin of future German irredentism.

Alsace wasn't wholly French though. Anti-Protestant policy that was the standard in France as a whole wasn't foisted upon Alsace. This made the region a religious freedom bastion when such concepts hardly existed.

This freedom of religion became a core of freedom of speech which would see Alsatians placed in high places as the revolutionary spirit swept through France.

Modern Conflict / Modern Wine

Germanic irredentism embodied by Prussia created brought an end to French rule in 1871 with Napoléon III's defeat. Alsace was once again German. Vineyards were subjected to their own upheaval with the arrival of phylloxera in the region almost twenty years later.

Wine and culture were in flux throughout this period of Alsatian history. Alsace citizens were nominally German, but their independent spirit remained. Sailors of Alsatian origin were part of the major mutinies that would topple the Prussian Empire.

French control wouldn't be restored until the Treaty of Versailles (contrary to Woodrow Wilson's concept of national self-determination). The vineyards at this point were planted to high-yield hybrid grapes. French efforts to change the viticulture scenery were unsuccessful. Then France would lose Alsace for its last stretch.

Nazi occupation of Alsace served to solidify the identity of this region. Made part of the Third Reich, many Alsatians were conscripted and sent to fight the Soviet Union. Captured at battles like Stalingrad, they then went to form the core of the Free French Army. These soldiers would then serve in reclaiming Alsace in 1945. Nazi policies in the region were draconian, even when it came to grapes. Hybrids were completely purged in favor of traditional German varietals. This was the only silver lining to the gray cloud of occupation.

Well that's it.

Thanks for hanging out. Lots of Alsace to explore in just a little amount of time. Enjoy your choucroute granier and a glass of Alsatian Riesling.