Alsace

Alsace is one of the loveliest parts of France. It was originally part of the Holy Roman Empire and only became French at the end of the Thirty Years War in 1648. It was annexed by Germany in 1870 and returned to France in 1919.

The vineyards of Alsace occupy the north-eastern corner of France between the Vosges Mountains and the Rhine Valley in the Haut-Rhin and Bas-Rhin departements.The types of soil are most varied, with a mix of limestone, clay, silt, sandy-gravel, sandstone and granite running through the vineyards, suiting the Alsatian grape varieties to a greater or lesser degree. The vines are mostly planted on hillsides facing east and south, at an altitude of 200-450 meters above sea-level, with some magnificently accentuated slopes with due-south exposure that give extra ripeness to the grapes to produce vendage tardive or even selection des grains nobles wines in good years.

The mountains protect the 110-kilometer stretch of vines from the wind and rain emanating from the north-west, to the extent that Alsace has one of the driest climates in France, with sunny days lasting long into the autumn. The Bas-Rhin, to the north, is correspondingly richer and more intensely aromatic.

There are a number of grape varieties in Alsace; however, four of the most important are Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Sylvaner and Pinot Blanc.