"The Bestheim style is a frank, clean and precise style which we find in our wines. On a human level, it is characterized by high standards, freedom and a lot of audacity."
Sylvain Kamm, Cremants Oenologist
In the "Alsace Cremants" family, I ask for the must-haves, the timeless ones, the ones you have on hand to celebrate every moment or for the pleasure of a fleeting effervescence. In the "Alsace Cremants" family, there are also the more complex ones. The "Grand Prestige" cuvées, the guardians of authenticity and excellence. Those which, in the narrow dark rows of our cellars, maintain a close relationship with our oenologists. A relationship punctuated with secrets shared during long periods of maturing on slats and which allow, at the end of the journey, to reveal a racy finesse and temperament, and a definitively gastronomic allure!
The Cremants, the jewels of the range, are the result of parcel selections of terroirs. Carefully elaborated by our oenologists, these wines are of great finesse and a resolutely gastronomic quality. Straightforwardness and rigour for excellent Alsace Cremant!
"The Bestheim style is a frank, clean and precise style which we find in our wines. On a human level, it is characterized by high standards, freedom and a lot of audacity."
Sylvain Kamm, Cremants Oenologist
The beginnings of the production of Cremant goes back a few decades. Indeed, Cremants have been produced in Alsace since the end of the 19th century, under the German annexation. At that time, a few Champagne houses settled in the region and produced the famous sparkling wine. Over the years, the production developed and more and more winemakers began to produce this sparkling wine. Wine known for its quality, it was necessary to find a name to differentiate it from Champagnes and other sparkling wines. That's when the word "Crémant" was born. This qualifier was formerly reserved for certain vintages of Champagne. On July 4, 1975 a law reserved the use of the word Crémant for sparkling wines with an appellation d'origine contrôlée. The first to benefit from it are the Crémants of the Loire and Burgundy. It is only on August 24, 1976, that a decree officializes the A.O.C. Crémant d'Alsace.
In order to benefit from the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, the Alsace Cremant must be made according to very strict rules set out in a specification drawn up by the INAO. Among these rules are, for example, the obligation to harvest the grapes by hand, to carry out a precise and controlled vinification with, in particular, a second fermentation in the bottle called "traditional method" and maturing on slats for at least 12 months before the final disgorging phase. At Bestheim, special attention is paid to the elaboration of the Crémant. Our site in Westhalten is entirely dedicated to the production of this sparkling wine. Thanks to our winegrowers who cultivate their land with love, each cuvée has its own spirit, style, strength and substance... It is then the oenologists, our virtuosos, who come to apply their know-how and expertise to bring the five senses into harmony and elaborate wines and Alsace Cremants in the style of the Bestheim cellar like so many paintings, melodies or parcels of life...