Lalique's New Luxury Inn Celebrates The Best Of Alsace Wine

Celebrating the opening of its new ultra-luxury hotel and restaurant in Alsace, Villa René Lalique, France’s leading super premium crystal company hosted a tasting and a lunch on September 28 with about three dozens of the region’s most important wine producers. Villa René Lalique’s chef, Jean-Georges Klein, holder of three Michelin stars, prepared the multi-course lunch following a tasting of dozens of the best wines currently available in Alsace in the restaurant’s cellar that holds 20,000 bottles. 

Vila René Lalique opened in mid-September. The beautifully renovated early 20th century inn includes six luxurious suites, all appointed with fabulous Lalique furniture and crystal. In addition, the spacious and modern restaurant is provided with Lalique furniture, chandeliers, and glassware. It was designed by world-renowned Italian architect Mario Botta.

The event also included the launch of a new annual multi-lingual guide (French and English) on the best wines of Alsace with internationally acclaimed wine critic James Suckling – Grands Vins d’Alsace/Great Wines of Alsace. Suckling is partner with Lalique for producing the premium glass line of Lalique 100 Points by James Suckling. The 66-page glossy guide includes a list of Suckling’s Top 100 Alsace wines of 2015/16 as well as ratings of more than 650 other wines. 

Villa René Lalique’s sommelier, Romain Iltis, awarded Meilleur Sommelier de France 2012 (Best Sommelier in France) and Meilleur Ouvrer de France 2015 (Best Craftsman in France), is also featured in the guide. And many of the Alsace wines that are noted in the guide are the wine list of Villa René Lalique. 

Suckling’s Alsace Wine of the Year in the guide was the 2009 FE Trimbach Riesling Alsace Grand Cru Geisberg, a new wine from one of the Trimbach’s best vineyards. The runner’s up included Domaine Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Alsace Grand Cru Rangen de Thann Clos Saint Urbain 2013 and Albert Mann Pinot Noir Alsace Grand H 2013. Owners of each winery were all awarded beautiful Lalique 100 Points decanters during the event.

“The wines of Alsace are some of the most complex and high quality wines in the world,” said Silvio Denz, chairman and CEO of Lalique. “We at Lalique wish to honor the producers who work so hard to make these very special wines.”

Photo: Great Wines of Alsace guidebook cover 

You can read the guidebook below. For premium subscribers to our website, you can follow this link to download the book.