A Luxembourg winery has teamed up with vintners in Germany to create a cross-border cuvée with grapes from three vineyards.
The Remich-based L&R Kox winery together with the Weinatelier Pierre Marie in Biringen and Stairs n’ Roses in Kinheim, both across the border in Germany, is launching the “Tirage à Trois” sparkling wine.
Tirage in winemaking is the process of bottling still wine with a mixture of yeast and sugar to induce the fermentation that makes sparkling wine. In the case of Tirage à Trois, it is also a word play on the French “ménage à trois” (or threesome).
The cuvée is an extra brut variety featuring Cabernet Blanc, Sauvignac and Hibernal grapes. It comes with notes of blackcurrant, gooseberry, passion fruit and pineapple. With a so-called dosage of 5g (the amount of sugar added just before corking), it falls into the extra brut category.
Curious wine connoisseurs can get a taste of the cuvée at the Bonne Nouvelle bar on 16 July from 19:00, where the winemakers will present the Tirage à Trois and other wines from their wineries during a dinner.
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The three wineries are part of the Vision Mosel initiative, an association of winemakers along the German-Luxembourg-French border river.
One of the aims of the initiative is to make winegrowing in the region more sustainable, cultivating resilient varieties, which are included in the Tirage à Trois cuvée.
“The cuvée, born in the heart of Europe, is a marvellous example of cross-border cooperation,” the three wineries said in a joint statement. It “opens up innovative, promising prospects for the winegrowers of the three countries in a changing market environment.”
The German wineries are located in the Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate, two separate German “Länder” (or federal states).
The sparkling wine is produced using crémant production criteria, including the traditional bottle fermentation and ripening of nine months before corking. It is not, however, a “Crémant de Luxembourg” as only local grapes can be used for this label.
Luxembourg is the only country outside of France entitled to the “crémant” label. As a result, the Tirage à Trois is a sparkling wine, even if it is made using the same methods.
For anyone willing to risk being stuck in a border control to discover the new cuvée, the Panzhaus restaurant in Greimerath, Germany will also be hosting a tasting and dinner on 23 August. Booking for both events can be made with the respective restaurants.
The cuvée is available for purchase from the three wineries.
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Dining and Cooking