Last September, I greatly enjoyed spending time in Alsace again in one of my many annual trips to what is one of France’s most beautiful wine regions. I simply never tire of the place, and already look forward to my next trip coming up this November. The reasons that explain my love for Alsace are too numerous to mention, but suffice it to say that it all boils down to a magical combination of friendly people, gorgeous natural scenery, outstanding food and restaurants, postcard-pretty villages, towns and cities, and oh yes, marvelous wines (most of the time). As I had occasion to write in part 1 of this two-part series on Alsace’s new releases, Alsace remains potentially the best address on Earth for great white wines, because no wine region in the world, bar none, makes as many delicious white wines of all types (sparkling, classically dry, lusciously sweet late harvests and even orange wines now) and from as many different grape varieties. And as if all that wasn’t good news enough, the fact that the region’s red wines have improved by leaps and bounds over the last twenty years ago, with both Pinot Noir and Syrah looking like future all-stars, makes for a bounty of riches (and of bragging rights) like nowhere else in the world.
The wines in this report
As already written in the first part of this two-part Alsace article series published last week, all the wines in this tasting report were tasted directly in Alsace at the wineries last September 2024. In this part 2, a much larger number of wineries and wines are featured, and you will find most of Alsace’s great names are included here. The wines of other famous Alsace wineries I may not have been able to get to during these trips will be written about in other articles appearing in the magazine during the year.