Visit to the Jos Nusbaumer distillery in Steige

The artisanal distillery Jos Nusbaumer, located in Steige, is an Alsatian distillery created in 1947 and producing high quality brandies and liqueurs. It has received the Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant (Living Heritage Company) label.

The Val de Villé, cradle of Alsatian distilleries

The Nusbaumer distillery is located in Steige, in the Val de Villé. The Val de Villé is the historical cradle of the Alsatian distilleries: because of its continental climate, with hot summers and harsh winters, this territory produces fruits of a particularly appropriate quality for the manufacture of brandies.

Visit of the Nusbaumer distillery in the Vosges

By reservation only, it is possible to visit the distillery and learn a little more about this world and the know-how of the distillery. We go to the discovery of the workshops of manufacture during the guided tour which lasts approximately 1 hour and makes us plunge into the atmosphere of the trade of distiller!

After a presentation of the distillery and explanations on the preparation of the fruits, we discover the superb stills room (the discovery of the old family still is one of the highlights of the visit!), then the storage tanks and the bottling room. It is really interesting to discover the process of elaboration of liqueurs and eaux de vie in this exceptional setting!

Products of the distillery: brandy, liqueur, gin and aquavit

The Nusbaumer distillery produces more than 70 different products: brandies , liqueurs, creams, fruits in brand y, but also since more recently mountain gin and French aquavit. Approximately 60% of the fruit used in the production comes from Alsace, the rest being fruit from the Rhone Valley (pears in particular) or imported (exotic fruit for example).

Because of its geographical situation in the middle of the mountains, the Nusbaumer distillery has always proceeded to the distillation of plants of all kindsThe fruit is not only fruit, but also plants (berries and regional botanicals) such as elderberry, holly berries, wild rose, sloe, cumin… Enough to make delicious local specialties!

In order to have a quality always equal, the distillery pays a great attention to the selection of the fruits, what is worth to him some years to buy only some when the weather was not lenient. In order to never be out of stock, the Nusbaumer distillery has a stock of two and a half years in advance.

Raspberry, williams pear, alisier, elderberry…

After the visit, we go to the store for a tasting. I pass quickly on the brandies (it is strong!) but I am conquered by the liqueurs and creams. I will leave with a small stock of Nusbaumer products (excellent kirsch for cooking, blackberry cream, raspberry liqueur…). Enough to keep you going for a while!

My pictures of the visit of the Nusbaumer distillery