What are Alsace wines?

Alsace is France's most underrated wine region. Tucked between the Vosges mountains and the Rhine River, it produces some of the world's greatest white wines, yet many drinkers overlook it. Here's why that's a mistake.

First, the terroir is extraordinary. The Vosges create a rain shadow that makes Colmar one of France's driest cities. The result: slow, even ripening and intense flavour concentration. The soils are wildly varied — granite, limestone, sandstone, volcanic rock, clay — which is why the 51 Grand Cru sites each produce distinctly different wines from the same grape.

Riesling is the star, and Alsatian Riesling is a world apart from German styles. It's usually bone-dry, with piercing acidity, citrus fruit, and a petroly minerality that develops with age. Great Grand Cru Riesling can easily age 20+ years. Gewurztraminer is the polar opposite: lush, perfumed, spicy, with lychee and rose petal aromas — love it or find it overwhelming, there's no in-between.

Pinot Gris sits in the middle — rich and honeyed but with enough acidity to stay balanced. And Muscat d'Alsace is the surprise: unlike sweet Muscat wines from southern France, here it's vinified dry, giving you all that grapey, floral aroma without any sweetness.

For dessert wines, Alsace's Vendanges Tardives (late harvest) and Sélection de Grains Nobles (noble rot) are extraordinary — rare, expensive, and capable of ageing for decades. A SGN Gewurztraminer is one of the most decadent wine experiences you can have.

Alsace is also a leader in organic and biodynamic viticulture, with around 15% of vineyards certified organic — the highest proportion of any French wine region.