The Domaine Francis Muré is in heart of the village of Westhalten, near Rouffach in the heart of the Alsace. We discovered it by accident back in 1998 (we were looking for a different Muré) but the wines were so well made that we stopped looking for the other one and bought our wine there. Francis is a man of many talents, producing superbly made smoked meat and fish and foie gras mi-cuit in addition to excellent wine. And Josiane maintains a small gîte (rental apartment) over a part of the winery.
Alsace is a land of many wines, all named principally for their grapes as they are in the US (most French wines bear their place names). The Murés make small quantities of many wines — Riesling, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Gewurztraminer — and their small parcels lie hither and yon above the town. This profusion of varietals makes the harvest easier to manage, since most of the grapes ripen on their own schedules and allow the picking to be staggered in a way it cannot when everything is Chardonnay or Pinot Noir. About ten years ago he began making Crémant by the Méthode Champenoise, and after tinkering with different blends over the years he has settled on Pinot Blanc.
Francis is nearing retirement (the age in France is 60), and as the children are all in other businesses, we have only a few more years to enjoy his beautifully made wines.
