What should you know about Alsace wine as you explore all the wine regions of France? This guide breaks down the grapes, styles, and geography that define Alsace. Check out a map of the region and some amazing photos of what it’s like to be there.
Guide to Alsace Wine
Alsace sits on one of Europe’s most contested borders, and it shows. For centuries, France and Germany fought over Alsace, leaving fingerprints on everything from architecture to language.
Alsace’s food and wine live at the crossroads of French finesse and German heft. For instance, Germanic grape varieties like Gewürztraminer and Riesling dominate the French département, but Alsace winemakers produce these grapes in a dramatically different style.
Here’s what actually matters in Alsace: the grapes, the styles, and why this region drinks nothing like you expect.
Just the Facts on Alsace Wine
Two words define Alsace: “Dry” and “Riesling”
Alsace wine will change your perception of a traditionally sweet Riesling. In addition to Riesling, Alsace produces Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer, and Crémant d’Alsace, a popular sparkling wine.
What Does Alsace Wine Taste Like?
Alsatian wine is all about aromas. Floral and stone-fruit aromas fly out of the glass, and many of the wines are unctuous enough to pair nicely with savory fowl, like roast quail. Alsace wines give the tingle of brilliant acidity but also offer a rich texture from moderate alcohol (some wines have 14 – 15% ABV).
Most Alsace producers skip oak altogether, letting ripeness, alcohol, and acidity carry the wine.
Where Exactly Is Alsace?
Alsace runs along France’s eastern edge, tucked into the Rhine Valley with Germany just across the river. There, Baden mirrors Alsace with similarly dry, aromatic wines.
The region is broken up into two parts:
- Bas-Rhin (north, near Strasbourg)
- Haut-Rhin (south, along the Vosges foothills)
Despite the names, Bas-Rhin sits north and Haut-Rhin south, reflecting differences in elevation. Haut-Rhin holds Alsace’s most prized vineyard sites, including many of the prestigious Alsace Grand Cru vineyards.
Alsace Vineyard Map
The Wines of Alsace
French AOC (short for Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) laws divide Alsace into three main appellations. These rules control everything, from which grapes you can plant to how far apart vines are from one another. So, to understand Alsace, it helps to understand the three major AOCs.
- Alsace AOC (92% white still wines)
- Crémant d’Alsace AOC (sparkling white and rosé wines)
- Alsace Grand Cru AOC (limited special vineyard wines)
Alsace AOC: 74% of production
The Alsace AOC requires wines to be made from 100% of the grape variety listed on the label. This is way different from U.S. requirements, which require only 85%. Blends are allowed in Alsace AOC, but they must be labeled ‘Edelzwicker,’ ‘Gentil,’ or a named wine. Until recently, Edelzwicker has always been considered a low-quality table wine.
The Alsace AOC includes white, rosé, and red wines (rosés and reds are made with Pinot Noir). The AOC is also allowed to label dessert wines as “Vendanges Tardives” and “Sélection de Grains Nobles” (see a description of sweet wines below). It’s true that in Alsace AOC wines, chaptalization is allowed (a method where sugar is added to fermentation), but many producers are moving away from this winemaking technique.
Pinot d’Alsace is a golden-hued wine that quietly breaks Alsace’s single-variety rule. It’s a blend of the region’s various ‘Pinot’ grapes (including Auxerrois), and is one of the most uniquely flavored white wines in the world.
Crémant d’Alsace AOC : 22% of production
Crémant d’Alsace is the fastest-growing AOC in Alsace. It is a sparkling wine AOC,
one of France’s best-value traditional-method sparkling wines. Chardonnay is permitted in Crémant d’Alsace; however, most of the white brut-style bubbly is made with Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Auxerrois (blended with Pinot Blanc, it’s called “Blanc de Blancs”), and Riesling. The rosé wine from this region is a special find because it’s 100% Pinot Noir.
Alsace Grand Cru AOC : just 4% of production
Grand Cru Alsace plays by a different set of rules. There are 51 Grand Cru plots that can only legally use a single variety or blend of the four official grape varieties. In Alsace, people commonly refer to the varieties as the Noble Grapes of Alsace, and they are:
The Grand Cru wines of Alsace usually have higher minimum alcohol levels, which require much riper grapes. Because of this, the best sites in Alsace are on the low, southern, and southeastern slopes, where they get the most sun. The Grand Crus of Alsace are rich, honeyed (even if they are dry), and age-worthy. Collectors remark on the smoky notes of these fine wines as they age. Among the Grand Crus, Zotzenberg in Bas-Rhin is the only one authorized to produce Sylvaner. Within this particularly large vineyard (~80 acres), there is also a plot of Pinot Noir, which can’t use the Alsace Grand Cru AOC classification.
Sweet Wines of Alsace
While Riesling and Muscat are made in a dry style in Alsace, single variety Pinot Gris and Gewürztraminer are often made in an off-dry style. Of course, this tradition is changing, so pay attention to the producer’s tasting notes.
Vendanges Tardives
Vendanges Tardives translates to “Harvest Late.” This wine is made from only the 4 Noble grapes of Alsace (see above). The grapes for these wines may have a little bit of the honey characteristic that is from Botrytis (aka ‘Noble Rot’). These wines are usually sweet, though some producers ferment the grapes’ sugars completely to create a higher-alcohol, fuller-bodied wine. Vendanges Tardives can be either an Alsace AOC or an Alsace Grand Cru AOC.
Sélection de Grains Nobles
A much stricter selection of late harvests that are sweet, similar to a Hungarian Tokaji or a Sauternes/Barsac from Bordeaux. These wines always have the honey character from a very meticulous hand-harvesting of botrytis-affected grapes. Wines labeled as such can be either Alsace AOC or Alsace Grand Cru AOC.
What to Look for in Alsace?
Some larger producers distribute widely around the world. Start with these two bottles: Crémant d’Alsace Rosé and a dry Riesling. They explain the region better than any map.
Deep Knowledge of Alsace
Get into the details about the classifications of Alsace, including how to wrap your brain around the appellation’s 51 unique Grand Crus.