Stroud Is All Over the Place: In Search of Pinot Noir

It’s Saturday. A beautiful day blooms and my wife has an idea. Ever the faithful servant, I pull out pen and paper and sit staring, much like a dog that can already smell the dog biscuit.

“I would like to drive to France,” she announces…or is that pronounces. I no longer distinguish.

My mind rummages through a wastebasket of thoughts. Seems to me… Of course, wine! We need more wine!

“Rodern?” I offer. The offer has a question mark because reading of minds is much to me like handling snakes. But, Rodern is known as the ‘Cradle of Pinot Noir,’ so I can’t be too far off.

“Perfect!” she says.

We grab maps. We google. We load the GPS and fill the tank with gas. Planning at its most perfect. Euros in the pocket? Check. Off on a cozy drive of three and a half hours through beautiful Alsace.

Rodern is an old, tidy village, one among many in the Alsace. But, there’s a difference and that difference is the grape. We’ve been there a few times. Never tire of the place and a visit to our favorite vintner, Metz-Bleger.

You get off the highway and onto dusty, two lane roads. Follow the signs into what appears to be a trip into the country. The village camps among expansive, rolling vineyards, overlooked by a sizeable castle.

Nestled in the heart of the village, appropriately located on Rue Pinot Noir, Metz-Bleger calls a very old building home. Built in 1560, destroyed by fire and reconstructed in 2001, it looks new, outside and in, but proudly wears the marks of centuries, including a carriage-door frame whose stone is chiseled with 1541, and symbols of laborers and wine growers. It’s not alone in its age. The town is strewn with half-timbered houses, tile roofs, cobblestones, arched carriage doors, rimmed in carved stone and still bearing the symbols of coopers, vintners, and others. These hark back to the days when not everyone was literate, much like parts of modern day America.

Metz-Bleger

The other side of Metz-Bleger

We stride into Metz-Bleger, just as a French family of four or five strolls out, cases in hand. Sometimes the tasting room is open and sometimes one must ring the bell and wait for a stout, elderly woman, or her son to appear in the balcony and shout down at you. Should it be a surprise we want wine and plenty of it???

She pours generously. Our first trip here, we had a Designated Driver and could swill with abandon. This time there’s just the two of us. Even so, we try several Pinots and select a 2012 Réserve Particulière and a 2011 Vieillien Fut de Chene. The first is a bright cherry red, but lacks nothing in flavor. The second is a more typical Pinot, with deep color and a more redolent nose. Both sit smoothly on the palate. My French runs out. The proprietress switches to German. Good enough.

The history of Alsace is a history of warfare, especially in modern times. War of 1870. The Germans claimed it. Then came World War I and the French got it back. Then came the Sieg Heilers and once again it was German until 1945. A few years later, the people voted to become French.

Now the towns have either French or German names. History scattered from town to town. Older folks speak both languages, the youngsters only French.

Back to wine. I confess, I had no idea about Pinot until I saw Sideways, the superb 2004 movie starring Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, and Virginia Maden, along with a most delectable Sandra Oh. But, unlike the characters in the film, far be it from me bear the title of wine snob. I know little and explore much. The Bleger Pinots are superb to this unrefined worshiper. I filled a car trunk the first time I came and have done some heavy lifting several times since. Bought 48 bottles this time, along with a few bottles of Crémont, that excellent Alsace version of Champagne.

With a map/brochure to guide us, we wander the streets and alleys. A pity there’s no flesh and blood guide. I suspect we barely clear the cobwebs off the history of this time capsule.

Yes, I could thrill you with details, but it’s more fun to go yourself. Meanwhile, I’ll entertain you with photos of some of the town’s treasures. You can walk the town rapidly, or take your time. I suggest the latter. You may have tasted more wine than you meant to. Easy to do, especially when you know you’ve pleased your wife and can finally relax.

Wonderful wine at five to ten bucks a bottle, in a tiny, yet wonderful little treasure of a town in the Alsace.