MAIN Wine Europe France Alsace

Alsace is a French region with an international culture and world class wines. Vines growing in the warm, dry climate of the hillsides of Alsace produce seven types of wines: Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Tokay Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Muscat, Sylvaner, and Gewürztraminer.

The Route des Vins of Alsace runs for 170 kilometers along the foot of the Vosges and features vineyards, forests, ruins of medieval castles, Strasbourg and other cities surrounded by old ramparts, flowered lanes, Roman churches and the wines of Alsace...

Visit Alsace - The Wine Road - The main tourism site for Alsace provides a wonderful visual tour of the wine region. Click on any of the villages on the map and you will be instantly transported to a minitour complete with impressive graphics and the local history, customs and tourist offerings. The site also gives detailed information on the wines, the wine growers, reviews and tasting notes.

An Alsatian at the Table - From Star Chef's a delightful essay on the pairing of food with the wines of Alsace. The article covers the basics of the region, the labels and the grapes with links to recipes that are designed to showcase the wines such as Tom Condron’s House Smoked Trout and Jumbo Lump Crabmeat Cakes with a Cracked Mustard Sauce.

Alsace Wine Guide - The Wine Doctor does a very nice presentation of the wines of Alsace with a map of the villages and vineyards, detailed information on the wine styles and links to individual wineries as well as to a section on the Grand Cru Vineyards. Put this together with the tasting notes and wine reviews that are the signature of the Wine Doctor site and you'll see why this is a must visit for anyone serious about Alsatian wines.

Official site of the Alsace Wine Committee - This is a flash site, but it is well done and takes very little time to load. Once inside, you'll find information on grape varieties (Sylvaner, Pinot Blanc, Riesling, Muscat, Tokay Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir and Gewurztraminer), and excellent presentations of work in the vineyards and the winemaking process, the Wine Route and Alsace Wine Trails as well as tourist festivals and wine fairs.

L'Alsace - The first page of this site let's you choose the language. Choosing English brings you to Alsace: The Land Where Cultures Meet - This site offers a virtual tour of the Alsace region through pictures and text. The foods, history and culture of the region are delivered to you at home. So, pour a glass of wine and get ready to explore Alsace.

Region Alsace - There is much more to Alsace than wines and this site will help you to discover the day to day reality of living here through ecomomy, education, festivals and more. The wines and wines route are an important part of the local ecomomy and culture and are well covered by the maps and text here.

Terroir-France Alsace - Several pages chock full of information on the Alsace region. Covers the wines, the grapes, the history and soil. Leads to pages to shop for both wine and books about the Alsace region.

Alsace: viticulture on the edge - A Wines & Vines Special Report: Harvest 1997 - This archived article gives an in-depth look at the challenges of raising grapes and making wines in the Alsace region.

also see in Wines -> White Wines

also see -> France Travel Guides