Alsace has been part of Germany between 1870 and 1918 but now it is one of the most important French wine regions. The region is the smallest of France and it is situated in the North-East of France between the Vosges and the Rhine. It has green hills and medieval villages and the main city is Strasbourg which host also the European Parlament.Soil includes a mix of limestone, gravel, silt, clay, and granite and the weather is with hot summers and cold winters with frequent snowfall. Winemaking probably started with the Romans and now represents one of the best expressions in the world. Alsatian wines can originatein any part of the region, but the better vineyards are grouped in the central section immediately north and south of Colmar. Alsace standards are very high and its bottles, tall and slender, are a distinctive character of all wines produced.
More than 90% of all wines produced in Alsace are white (20% of total France white wines): they can be dry or sweet, but all of them are unique in taste.
All wines take their style and their appelations not from town names, but from seven grape varieties known as "Noble"(Edel in German): Riesling, Muscat d'Alsace, Gewurztraminer, Tokay d'Alsace (Pinot Gris), Sylvaner, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Noir. In the case of the finest wines, the appelations can be followed by the expression Grand Cru or the name of the vineyard. Alsatian wines begin to show their qualities after six months to one year in the bottle. Better vintages need three to eight years to reach their best: they do not really improve after that but they will keep the qualities. The wine classification in Alsace includes:

AOC Alsace Grand Cru

The expression Grand Cru is followed by the name of the grape variety and by the name of the vineyard.

Alsace grand cru Altenberg de Bergbieten
Alsace grand cru Altenberg de Bergheim
Alsace grand cru Altenberg de Wolxheim
Alsace grand cru Brand
Alsace grand cru Bruderthal
Alsace grand cru Eichberg
Alsace grand cru Engelberg
Alsace grand cru Florimont
Alsace grand cru Frankstein
Alsace grand cru Froehn
Alsace grand cru Furstentum
Alsace grand cru Geisberg
Alsace grand cru Gloeckelberg
Alsace grand cru Goldert
Alsace grand cru Hatschbourg
Alsace grand cru Hengst
Alsace grand cru Kanzlerberg
Alsace grand cru Kastelberg
Alsace grand cru Kessler
Alsace grand cru Kirchberg de Bar
Alsace grand cru Kirchberg de Ribeauvillé
Alsace grand cru Kitterlé
Alsace grand cru Mambourg
Alsace grand cru Mandelberg
Alsace grand cru Marckrain
Alsace grand cru Moenchberg
Alsace grand cru Munchberg
Alsace grand cru Ollwiller
Alsace grand cru Osterberg
Alsace grand cru Pfersiberg
Alsace grand cru Pfingstberg
Alsace grand cru Praelatenberg
Alsace grand cru Rangen
Alsace grand cru Rosacker
Alsace grand cru Saering
Alsace grand cru Schlossberg
Alsace grand cru Schoenenbourg
Alsace grand cru Sommerberg
Alsace grand cru Sonnenglanz
Alsace grand cru Spiegel
Alsace grand cru Sporen
Alsace grand cru Steinert
Alsace grand cru Steingrebler
Alsace grand cru Steinklotz
Alsace grand cru Vorbourg
Alsace grand cru Wiebelsberg
Alsace grand cru Wineck-schlossberg
Alsace grand cru Winzenberg
Alsace grand cru Zinnkoepflé
Alsace grand cru Zotzenberg

AOC Alsace

The expression AOC is usually followed by the name of the grape variety.

ALSACE CHASSELAS OU GUTEDEL
ALSACE GEWURZTRAMINER
ALSACE GRAND CRU
ALSACE MUSCAT
ALSACE PINOT NOIR
ALSACE PINOT OU KLEVNER
ALSACE RIESLING
ALSACE SYLVANER
ALSACE TOKAY-PINOT GRIS
CREMANT D'ALSACE (Sparkling wine)

ALSACE REGION WINE INFORMATIONS

Size: 190km long (120 miles) and 50km wide (30 miles)

Population: 1,750,000

Main City: Strasbourg (450,000)

Vineyards: 6,000 wine growers in Alsace

Size of the vineyards: 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres)

Production: 165 million bottles

Grapes grown in Alsace:

Riesling (23%)
Pinot Blanc (20%)
Gewurztraminer (18%)
Tokay Pinot Gris (13%)
Sylvaner (12%)
Pinot Noir (10%)
Muscat (2.5%)