Alsace

Ribeauville, Alsace

If you haven’t been wine tasting in Alsace before you may find it quite daunting because of the number of wines available to taste. At most cellar doors there are less than 10 wines to taste; in Alsace more than 20. This is because they have 3 major varietals - Riesling, Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer – and several minor ones – Pinot Blanc, Sylvaner and Pinot Noir. And each major varietal comes in different guises; a basic wine, a reserve, a Grand Cru. And then there are the sweet wines –vedage tardive (late harvest) and Grains Nobles (grapes affected by ‘noble rot’, Botrytis cinerea). Finally there are likely to be several vintages.

The winemakers that we have visited are shown in the map below. (Click on the icon to see our notes about the winemaker - the heart icons are our favourites.)