Alsace

Alsace has 51 Grand Cru vineyards, each delineated by its specific soil type and microclimate, and each permitted to produce only the four noble varieties: Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, and Muscat. The system was formalised in 1983 and has been controversial ever since — some of the most celebrated sites were excluded, and some producers of the highest reputation have refused to use the Grand Cru designation on their labels. But at its best, the Grand Cru system produces wines of extraordinary site-specificity: the Riesling from Schlossberg (granite) tastes nothing like the Riesling from Rangen (volcanic gneiss), and both taste nothing like the Riesling from Rosacker (limestone).

The most celebrated Grand Crus include Schlossberg (the largest, above Kaysersberg, on granite), Rangen de Thann (the southernmost, on volcanic gneiss, producing wines of fierce mineral intensity), Brand (above Turckheim, on granite and gneiss), Hengst (above Wintzenheim, on limestone and marl), and Goldert (above Gueberschwihr, on limestone, the finest site for Muscat). The wines from these sites, in the hands of producers like Zind-Humbrecht, Weinbach, Trimbach, and Hugel, are among the longest-lived white wines in the world.

Riesling is Alsace's greatest variety — a grape of extraordinary versatility that can produce wines ranging from bone-dry and laser-precise to lusciously sweet Vendange Tardive and Sélection de Grains Nobles. At its best, Alsace Riesling combines the aromatic intensity of the variety with a mineral backbone and acidity that allows it to age for 20 years or more. The wines of Trimbach — particularly the Clos Sainte Hune, from a single hectare within the Rosacker Grand Cru — are the benchmark for the dry style: austere, mineral, and revelatory with a decade of cellaring.

Gewurztraminer is Alsace's most immediately seductive variety — a grape of heady perfume (lychee, rose petal, ginger, Turkish delight) and rich, almost oily texture that can be overwhelming in lesser hands but transcendent in the best. The finest examples, from producers like Zind-Humbrecht and Weinbach, achieve a balance between the variety's natural opulence and a mineral freshness that keeps the wine from cloying. Pinot Gris occupies the middle ground: smoky, rich, and textured, with stone fruit and a savoury, almost bacon-fat quality in the best examples. Muscat, the fourth noble variety, is vinified dry in Alsace — a revelation for those who know it only in its sweet form.

Alsace's two late-harvest designations — Vendange Tardive (VT) and Sélection de Grains Nobles (SGN) — represent the pinnacle of the region's sweet wine production. VT wines are made from late-harvested grapes with concentrated sugars, and may be dry or sweet depending on the producer and vintage; the best are wines of extraordinary complexity and longevity. SGN wines are made from individually selected botrytised berries — the equivalent of a German Trockenbeerenauslese — and are among the most concentrated and long-lived sweet wines in the world.

Both designations are produced only in exceptional vintages, and only from the four noble varieties. The SGN wines of Zind-Humbrecht — particularly from Rangen de Thann and Goldert — are considered among the greatest sweet wines produced anywhere in France, capable of ageing for half a century and beyond. They are also, inevitably, produced in tiny quantities and command prices to match.

The Route des Vins d'Alsace runs for 170 kilometres from Marlenheim in the north to Thann in the south, threading through a succession of medieval villages that are among the most beautiful in France. Riquewihr — a perfectly preserved walled town of half-timbered houses and flower-filled window boxes — is the most visited, and the base for exploring the Grand Crus of the central Alsace. Ribeauvillé, Kaysersberg, Eguisheim, and Turckheim are equally beautiful and less crowded. Colmar, the regional capital, is the essential urban base: a city of extraordinary architectural beauty, with the Petite Venise canal district and the Unterlinden Museum (home to the Isenheim Altarpiece) among the finest cultural attractions in eastern France.

Alsace is best visited in autumn — September and October — when the harvest is underway, the vineyards are at their most colourful, and the region's extraordinary food culture is at its peak. The cuisine of Alsace is one of France's most distinctive: choucroute garnie, tarte flambée, baeckeoffe, and the rich, creamy dishes of the Alsatian kitchen pair naturally with the region's aromatic whites. The Christmas markets, which begin in late November, are among the most celebrated in Europe, and the villages along the Route des Vins are transformed into scenes of extraordinary festive beauty.