The seal of quality

Every year since 1957, following blind tastings held in January and June for AOC Alsace and AOC Alsace Grand Cru wines, and in April for AOC Crémant d’Alsace, the Brotherhood Saint-Etienne awards its special seal of quality called the “Sigille” of Alsace wines.

Only wines from members of the Brotherhood are admitted to these tastings. They must come from the next to last vintage before the tasting (or from earlier vintages particularly for Late Harvest and Sélections de Grains Nobles wines), and they must already be in bottle.

In order to obtain this distinction, each wine must of course be tasted “blind” by a broadly-based jury of Confrères, winegrowers and other experts: it must meet very strict criteria of quality and typicity (obtaining at least 7 points out of 10 in each category) and it is subject to a laboratory test to verify its technical characteristics.

Each bottle of wine that has successfully passed these tests is allowed to carry the Brotherhood “Sigille” (from the Latin “sigillum” or seal), authenticated by the signature of the “Receveur” and an identification number.

A list of Sigille-winning wines is published annually, offering details of each wine, listed both by village and by winegrower, with contact details for each producer: it is a useful buyers’ guide both for consumers and for professionals, and is available upon request from the Chancellery.

For all the official Chapters and tutored tastings held at the Château de Kientzheim, only wines that have been awarded a “Sigille” are served, but the Brotherhood never reveals the names of their producers; all wines are served under the neutral Brotherhood label.

Finally, every wine awarded a Sigille will take its place in history: 12 bottles of each wine will enter the Oenothèque of the Brotherhood, which currently consists of more than 60,000 bottles, thus preserving the finest wines of each successive vintage.

The wines that enter the Oenothèque in the cellars under the Château will join the precious bottles of the celebrated Méquillet collection, which miraculously survived two World Wars, with the oldest bottles dating back to 1834. The Oenothèque is cared for by the members of the Junior Council, who demonstrate their committment to the skills of their ancestors and to the quality-oriented objectives of the Brotherhood Saint-Etienne.

A list of wines, procedures and registration is available upon demand from the Chancellery.