Clement Klur
Visiting France's Alsace wine region, part 2


Clement Klur

We had a close escape on our next visit, to Clement Klur, in the beautiful village of Katzenthal. The plan was that we should take a walk in the vineyards. Normally, this would be first on my list of things to do for a winery visit.


Katzenthal

But this would have been a group walk, led by a comedy monk, lasting an hour and a half. In French, of course. 90 minutes with a comedy monk? We quickly wormed our way out of the group, and were fortunate to be able to snag a professional visit instead, with Clement Klur. It was very good of him, because this was the winery open day – the picnic in the vineyards, organized by the Vignerons Independents across France – and the property was full of visitors making merry (at least, those who had chosen not to go on the comedy monk’s vineyard tour).

Klur’s mother and father come from families that have been involved in winegrowing since 1600. Klur worked the domaine for 20 years with his cousin, before splitting off in 1999 to go in a biodynamic direction. He’s been certified biodynamic since 2004. The cellar is round, and is constructed of packed earth, with herbs growing on the roof. It is ‘bioclimatic’ and naturally cooled. 

Klur says that there’s 30% more labour involved in working biodynamically, so 7 hectares of vineyards is enough for him to manage. He makes 17 different wines from these. He works naturally in the winery, adding just a little sulfur dioxide when he removes the wine from the lees (which are protective), and then a little more at bottling.


The Wineck Schlossberg

Japan is a big export market, as are the USA and Dubai. The wines are sold in the UK by Philglass and Swiggot.

THE WINES

Voyou de Katz 2011 Alsace, France
A blend of Sylvaner, Riesling and Muscat. Fruity and rounded. Textured and soft with nice melon fruit and a bit of citrus. Refreshing. 88/100

Gentil de Katz 2011 Alsace, France
A blend of Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and Gewürztraminer. Fruity, aromatic nose shows rounded melon and pear fruit. Deliciously rounded palate is textured with peach and grape notes. Nice depth here. 90/100

Klur Pinot Blanc 2008 Alsace, France
Nutty, appley and rounded with some apple pie character. Textured and fruit with some mineral notes. Oxidative and complex with apple, pear and nuts. 90/100

Klur Riesling 2010 Alsace, France
Just 1 g/litre residual sugar, from granite soils. Taut citrussy nose. Complex, mineral, spicy palate with nice density. Dry and mineral with some creaminess. 90/100

Klur Riesling Grand Cru Wineck Schlossberg 2009 Alsace, France
Granite soils. Lively, mineral, fresh and vibrant with lovely lemon and tangerine fruit, as well as a grapefruit twist. Lovely balance and great acidity. 5 g/litre residual sugar. 94/100

Klur Cremant d’Alsace Sans Souffre Ajouté NV Alsace, France
Pinot Auxerrois and Pinot Blanc. Fresh, lively, citrussy nose leads to a fruity palate with nice freshness. Stylish and a bit pithy. 88/100

Katz Pinot Gris 2011 Alsace, France
Rounded, textured and grapey. Smooth with some sweetness. Off-dry and delicious with nice melon and grape fruity characters. 90/100

Klur Pinot Gris Grand Cru Wineck Schlossberg 2010 Alsace, France
Mineral, smoky edge to the nose. The palate is lively and fresh, with rich texture and a mineral nerve. Really interesting and characterful, finishing very fresh. Grape and melon richness. 93/100

Katz Gewürztraminer 2010 Alsace, France
Lovely sweet-textured, grapey white with some varietally typical lychee notes, as well as some herbs. Off-dry, rounded, yet fresh, this is a brilliant effort. 92/100

Klur Gewürztraminer 2009 Alsace, France
Textured, sweet and powerful with bold fruit and lovely minerality. Sweet and very bold with lovely complexity in a very rich style, yet finishing fresh. 94/100

Klur Gewürztraminer Grand Cru Wineck Schlossberg 2008 Alsace, France
Herb tinged with grape, spice and smoked bacon characters, as well as some lychee. Sweet and savoury. There’s a richness of texture on the palate, as well as spice and mineral notes. Really persistent finish. 93/100

Katz Pinot Noir 2010 Alsace, France
Very pale pink. Some spicy, herby notes on the nose. Sweet, supple palate is very fresh with fine cherry fruit and a touch of herb. Textural, with some sweet red cherry fruit and redcurrant notes. Beautifully judged with really fine extraction. 91/100

Klur Pinot Noir 2010 Alsace, France
Pale cherry red. Very fine, fresh and light. Cherryish with a bit of mineral and spice. A bit sappy with nice sweet, light red cherry fruit and some stalky notes. Fresh and elegant. 92/100

Klur Gewürztraminer Vendanges Tardive 207 Alsace, France
Powerful, concentrated and textured with sweet lychee, melon and grape notes. Some rose petal, too, as well as a bit of spice. Intense, powerful, very sweet, but still fresh. 94/100

See a short film of the visit, including some stunning vineyard scenery:

 

See also: pictures from the vineyards of Alsace, part 1, Paul Blanck

VISITING ALSACE
Part 1, Paul Blanck
Part 2, Clement Klur
Part 3, Schlumberger
Part 4, Zind Humbrecht
Part 5, Albert Boxler
Part 6, Dirler-Cadé
Part 7, Josmeyer

Part 8, Weinbach
Part 9, Hugel
Part 10, Léon Beyer

Wines tasted 06/12  
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