What is Crémant de Luxembourg? A guide to the Grand Duchy's Moselle wines

The Grand Duchy is one of Europe's smallest wine countries, yet it produces one of the continent's most distinctive sparkling wines. Crémant de Luxembourg is a quality sparkling wine made by the traditional method along the banks of the Luxembourg Moselle, and Luxembourg is the only country outside France entitled to use the term "crémant" for its sparkling wine.

A protected appellation since 1991

Crémant de Luxembourg became a protected designation on 4 January 1991, when the Marque Nationale: Appellation contrôlée Crémant de Luxembourg was introduced. The rules are strict. Grapes must be harvested by hand and selected specifically for sparkling-wine production. Pressing is gentle: no more than 100 litres of must may be drawn from every 150 kilograms of grapes.

Most importantly, Crémant must be made by the méthode traditionnelle — a second fermentation that takes place inside the bottle, the same approach used in Champagne. After that second fermentation, each bottle must spend a minimum of nine months ageing on the lees (the spent yeast), which builds the fine, persistent bubbles and bready depth that define a good Crémant. The finished wine must hold a pressure of at least 4 bar and carry a sugar level below 50 g/l. Read more in the official guide.

The Luxembourg Moselle wine region

The vineyards run along the Moselle River in a slender ribbon roughly 300 to 400 metres wide and about 42 kilometres long, covering close to 1,200 hectares of vines. The river marks the border with Germany, and the steep limestone and marl slopes around Wormeldange and Grevenmacher give the wines their mineral backbone.

This is overwhelmingly white-wine country. The leading grapes are:

• Rivaner (Müller-Thurgau) — historically the most planted variety
• Auxerrois — often considered Luxembourg's most successful grape
• Riesling — the prestige variety on the best limestone slopes
• Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc
• Elbling — an ancient, light grape long grown here
• Pinot Noir and aromatic Gewürztraminer

Many of these same grapes go into Crémant, with Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, Auxerrois and Riesling especially prized for sparkling cuvées. For more on the vineyards, see our ongoing Moselle vineyards coverage.

The Marque Nationale quality scheme

Luxembourg's wines and crémants are governed by the Marque Nationale, a state quality and origin scheme administered under the AOP (appellation d'origine protégée) framework. Every bottle of Crémant is tasted and assessed for colour, clarity, bouquet and taste before it earns its rectangular back label — the guarantee that what is in the bottle meets the appellation standard.

How to visit

The Moselle is built for visitors. The Wine Route (Route du Vin) threads through the wine villages, and the cellars of Remich, Grevenmacher and Wormeldange open their doors for tastings — among them the historic Caves St Martin at Remich, carved into the rock. In summer, the pleasure boat MS Princesse Marie-Astrid cruises the river past terraced vineyards between Schengen, Remich, Grevenmacher and Wasserbillig. The vessel has a place in European history: an earlier Princesse Marie-Astrid hosted the signing of the Schengen Agreement in 1985.

Crémant, Champagne or Prosecco?

All three are sparkling, but they are not made the same way. Champagne and Crémant de Luxembourg both use the traditional method, with the second fermentation in the bottle and long lees ageing — the difference is the place and, often, the price. Champagne comes only from the Champagne region of France; Crémant de Luxembourg comes only from the Luxembourg Moselle.

Prosecco is different in kind: it is usually made by the tank (Charmat) method, where the second fermentation happens in a large pressurised tank rather than the bottle, giving a fruitier, simpler, frothier style. In short, Crémant offers Champagne's method at a friendlier price, with a character all its own.