Alsace Fine wine

Like all French wine regions, Alsace has its own identity and specialisms. But perhaps more than any other region, it sits slightly apart, its Franco-German heritage – influenced by centuries of border shifts – evident in everything from grape varieties to labelling conventions.

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AOC status

Although winemaking in this part of north-eastern France dates back to Roman times, the region’s modern identity only began to solidify after World War II, culminating in AOC status in 1962. With a dry, cool, continental climate, Alsace is inextricably aligned with aromatic white grape varieties, notably Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris. Pinot Noir, though, is an increasing focus, while sparkling Crémant d’Alsace is also a regional strength. Stylistically, Alsace whites are known for their lightness, purity and precision, with dry styles gaining a distinct prominence over the less-and-less fashionable sweet wines. Riesling is the star of the show, offering finesse and longevity, while Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris bring exotic richness. In recent decades, producers have increasingly embraced single-vineyard bottlings, notably from the 51 grands crus, where they are often the result of organic and/or biodynamic viticulture. Today, Alsace offers a compelling mix of tradition and terroir transparency, with producers focused on sustainable viticulture and expressing their sites with clarity and nuance.

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Standout Alsace wine

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Show in Bond Pricing Buying in bond means the wine is stored in a bonded warehouse and no duty or VAT has been paid—ideal for storage or resale. <br>Duty paid means taxes are included and the wine is ready for home delivery and drinking.

2023 Riesling Grand Cru Sommerberg Vanne , Albert Boxler

2023 Pinot Gris Grand Cru Brand, Albert Boxler

2023 Riesling, Grand Cru Hengst, Domaine Zind Humbrecht

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2023 Riesling Grand Cru Brand, Albert Boxler

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Alsace wine styles and grape varieties

Alsace’s core styles revolve around aromatic white grape varieties, largely rendered in a dry style and often varietally labelled. Chief among these are Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris, with Pinot Blanc and Sylvaner playing a supporting role. While some wines are a blend of such varieties, the majority of premium cuvées tend to be dominated by a single grape, often made in a relatively low-intervention manner, and delivering a strong sense of terroir expression, which is only heightened in the many organic and biodynamic sites. Riesling is the clear star of the show, yielding dry, precise, mineral-driven wines, often with citrus and floral notes. Gewurztraminer is more opulent, especially on the nose, showing exotic notes of lychee, rose and spice, with a rich, full-bodied palate. Pinot Gris also shows a broader, textured palate, marked by ripe orchard fruit but generally with a less overt aromatic profile. While the majority of these wines are dry, styles can harness a variety of different sweetness levels, right up to the lusciously indulgent Vendanges Tardives and Sélection de Grains Nobles wines. And while white wines dominate the Alsace landscape, Pinot Noir has gained traction in recent years, offering an attractive marriage of bright red fruit and silky texture.

Alsace vintages

Given the range of grape varieties, soils and wine styles made in Alsace, generalising about vintages is not easy. But with sweet wines falling in popularity, and the increasingly acclaimed Pinot Noirs still establishing themselves, most commentary on the merits of vintages relates the quality of the dry whites – notably the famous Rieslings. Recent years have been relatively kind to the region, with few duds from 2015 onwards. 2021 was tricky, with a reduced crop due to damp conditions, but 2022 and 2023 were both stellar, while of the older years, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 constituted a fine run of vintages, yielding wines which, from the grand cru sites, are already ageing well.

Alsace wine FAQs

How do you know if an Alsace Riesling is dry or sweet?

It’s a key concern for all potential buyers of Alsace wine that has, in the past, deterred many wine lovers from committing to a bottle they don’t know. Fortunately, as of the 2021 vintage, producers are now legally obliged to include an indication of the sweetness level on the back label, via a universally adopted scale. The scale comprises the following categories: dry (or ‘sec’) – less than 4 grams per litre of sugar; medium dry (‘demi-sec’) – 4-12g/l; ‘mellow’ (‘moulleux’) – 12-45g/l; or sweet (‘doux’) – over 45g/l. In reality, the vast majority of Alsace wines today are dry, with the sweet renderings falling out of fashion (30 years ago, almost half of Zind Humbrecht’s production was devoted to sweet wines – today it is less than 5%). The sweetness level of each wine is also detailed within the wine information on the Lay & Wheeler listings.

How does the cru system work in Alsace?

As in Burgundy, Alsace’s cru system classifies vineyards as opposed to wineries – with many of these vineyards split between producers, and hence yielding several different interpretations of the same site. Unlike Burgundy, in Alsace there are only grand-cru vineyards – 51 in total – and not premier cru. The classification was established in 1975 and expanded throughout the 1980s and ‘90s, with many commentators now saying that it is too broad and some sites too big (there has been talk of introducing a premier-cru ranking, to cater for sections of larger vineyards considered unworthy of grand-cru status). For now, the system provides a framework for showcasing Alsace’s finest terroirs, via wines which must be made via hand-harvesting to strict yields, vinified and bottled separately, and is limited to four grape varieties: Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris and Muscat. Of these, Riesling is by far the most reputed, with the most acclaimed sites, such as Schlossberg, Rangen and Clos St Hune, showing intense minerality and longevity.

Alsace wine producers

As in Burgundy, many Alsace producers make wine across a large range of different sites – with the added complication of also juggling several different grape varieties and styles. A producer such as Zind Humbrecht, for example, makes around 30 different wines in any given vintage – though that number has decreased slightly in recent years as a result of the decline in demand for sweeter styles (of which it now makes only two or three each year). Zind Humbrecht is among a clutch of venerable producers in the region, with the Humbrecht line of winegrowers going back 10 generations. Albert Boxler has a similar pedigree, dating back to 1672 (though it only started bottling wines under its own name after the Second World War), and owns several plots in the grands crus of Brand and Sommerberg. Famille Hugel is another august name, its heritage dating back to 1639.