Alsace Wine

About Alsace

It's no surprise, then, that a lot of the grape varieties grown in Alsace and the wines made are German in style and grape origins.The majority of wines produced are white, although there are some very fine reds produced in tiny amounts, often from Pinot Noir. But it's Riesling and Gewürztraminer that dominate on the white front, along with some Pinot Blanc. The wines produced are very aromatic (in other words smelly, but in a nice way) and also have a spiciness to them and a lot of zing from their relatively high acidity. This makes them great wines for food, especially spicy, Asian food such as Thai, Indian or, in the case of Gewürztraminer, Chinese.

Major white grape varieties: Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Gewürztraminer.

Key areas to watch: What you need to be looking out for is not so much areas but rather Grands Cms, a term that's given to only the best vineyard sites. The wines from these aren't cheap, but they're usually very good.

Names to look out for: Leon Beyer, Josmeyer, Keuntz-Bas,A Mann, Roily Gassmann, Schlumberger, Trimbach, the Turckheim Co-op, Zind-Humbrecht.