Mention Alsace in France and invariably you’ll hear: “One eats and drinks well in Alsace.”
It’s true. Notable, modestly priced coups de cœur—instant personal favorite restaurants—abound. They reflect an unique mix of French, German and Swiss cultures while relying on the glorious bounty of regional products coming Alsace’s diverse soils and remarkably dry, sunny climate.
By most measures, the F.E. Trimbach’s riesling Clos Sainte Hune remains the flagship of Alsace’s dry white wines. Made from grapes grown in Rosacker vineyard’s distinctive Dolomitic limestone, the wine’s consistent elegance, complexity and fidelity to terroir certainly merit accolades.
But Alsace’s glorious dry rieslings do not stop there. The sheltering Vosges Mountain to the west create a marvelously sunny, dry climate over a stunningly diverse mosaic of soils in 51 grand cru vineyards. This provides scores of outstanding Alsace winegrowers with singular opportunities at every turn to make world-class dry rieslings worthy of serious consideration and enjoyment.
Beblenheim, Alsace, France
Domaine Bott-Geyl’s talented winegrower Jean-Christophe Bott clearly enjoys putting boots in vineyard soils. For our 9:30 AM appointment he arrives on a small tractor direct from early morning vineyard work.