At the beginning of the 20th century, the many varieties planted in Alsace were divided into ‘noble’ and others. The number has been rationalized over the years, and now the region produces eight major varietal wines: riesling, Gewurztraminer (gewürztraminer), pinot gris, pinot noir, pinot blanc, muscat, chasselas, and sylvaner. Chasselas is generally used for blending, and only a handful of producers still bottle it as a varietal. auxerrois is also planted, and is usually blended with and labelled as Pinot Blanc, although it does sometimes feature on a label. There has also been some interest in planting the ubiquitous chardonnay, forbidden by law, but tolerated when labelled as Pinot Blanc, or used in the sparkling wine crémant d’Alsace.
