Alsace. Wine, the pride of the entire village of Cleebourg

Cleebourg, a little over six hundred inhabitants, half-timbered houses in the purest Alsatian style, and a little over two million bottles produced each year. This completely isolated village in the north of the Bas-Rhin department, a stone's throw from Wissembourg, is nevertheless part of the Wine Route. The vineyard abruptly interrupts the cornfields that continuously line the road from Haguenau. There are no independent growers here; the grapes harvested by a host of smallholders are donated in full to the cooperative.

"The region has never lived off the vine," explains Franck Spielmann, director of the winery. "People had a few rows of vines for their own consumption, with a few Mirabelle plum trees nearby." Everything changed in 1946. The locals used war damages to create their cooperative winery. The project was audacious, but they all joined. The wine, once supplied to the Moselle miners and soldiers of the Maginot Line, has become a major business.

"That they're still growing vines in Cleebourg is a small miracle," admits Franck Spielmann. "But people are incredibly proud of their wine cellars!" The 200 hectares of vineyards under the appellation stretch all the way to the German border, some of which is owned by German owners. It took an international diplomatic agreement to regularize the situation once the border was once again protected.

A few kilometers from the Schoenenbourg fort or the treetop path in Drachenbronn , visiting the Cleebourg cellar, a temple of architecture, is to embrace a little of this history and an authentic culture. 40% of the production is sold to individuals who come to the site. The cellar alone generates €2.5 million in turnover. 50,000 visitors are recorded, a figure that is constantly increasing.

This boom supports the local economy, the lodges, hotels, and restaurants in a very traditional style, especially as the wines are enjoying growing success. "Global warming has been good," acknowledges Franck Spielmann. "We are capable of making very fine, very distinguished things, even though the economic argument is really not the most important for us." The selling price is almost too low to earn a place on the region's finest tables, while on the palate, the crémants, Rieslings, and other Gewurztraminers aim for excellence.

But what winemakers defend above all is a way of life. The brotherhood's banquets are always packed. In fact, this Sunday, August 17, is open house.