Alsace Wine

Alsace is among the most beautiful wine regions in the world. Dramatic scenery and ridiculously pretty mediaeval villages lie in the shadow of the Vosges Mountains whose influence on the weather make this one of the driest regions in France. Alsace wine also benefits from an unexpectedly warm climate for a northerly vineyard and attaining full ripeness for the grapes is seldom a problem.

Although growers' styles vary considerably from one producer to the next, what is shared between them is a natural cleanness and the desire to express the character of each, individual grape type in its purest form. With five main varieties to choose from and, despite being from one of the oldest wine growing regions in the world, Alsace wine presents us with invaluable modern originality, at a time when our brand-saturated high street multiples offer us nothing more than formulaic, "international" varietals. It is a vital point of difference: Alsace wine is unique in France, let alone the rest of the globe, while it is nearly impossible to tell whether some chardonnays are made in the northern or southern hemispheres, never mind name a country.

As in the rest of our list we have not chosen the obvious, big names of the region, but have gone for three individual growers whose quality we simply could not ignore. The suave, fresh style of Philippe Zinck makes a fantastic introduction to Alsace wine and the richer, riper wines of the very-nearly-certified organic Clement Klur - new kid on the block and already a top drawer producer - will satisfy the most ardent fan. Domaine Burn's specialist, late-picked Riesling is a miracle.

Respect to the ancient Houses of the region, sure, but in the hands of growers like those above, the future of these wines is more assured than ever.

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All of our wines are available by mail order to customers in the UK