Our last article on Paris contained nothing about wine. Have we lost the plot? Some of you may think so but the truth is that wine wasn't a focus in Paris. Sure we had some, with dinner and often with lunch. Like all civilised countries drinking during the day is encouraged, not frowned upon.

Since we weren't going to all parts of France we concentrated on those regions or varieties that we wouldn't encounter. This approach paid off as we found we liked every beaujolais we tried. These wines ranged from very light, the sort we most associate with the name, through to heavier and slightly more earthy examples.

It didn't seem to matter if the beaujolais was the house red or something more expensive, it was all beautifully smooth and full of flavour. Our tip is if you're not sure what to pick or can't pronounce the names select either any white or a beaujolais.

Once we left Paris wine became the focus. Despite all the barriers that Champagne put in our way we've been sampling quite a lot. However it was Alsace that gave us our first real opportunity to begin to answer one of the big questions in life. Can the French really make wine or have they just been mucking about these last 1000 years?

Sitting on the border as it does Alsace has been ruled by both France and Germany at different times. As a result it is a wonderful blend of both countries. Germany has left it's mark on the local dialect, many place names and most importantly on the food and wine.

Alsace is a meat lover's paradise. Vegans will wake up in a cold sweat at the mere thought of the amazing range of smoked meats, scrags of pork, sausages and bacon that are only relieved by the occasional salad and trademark sauerkraut (in French referred to as choucroute).

This region is also home to some of the best white wines you will ever taste. Seeing so much riesling, pinot gris and gewurztraminer almost made us homesick. But we also found new varieties like pinot blanc, sylvaner and auxerrois. To our surprise we found a muscat. It might be a lighter and dryer version of one of our favourite fortified wines but it had all the flavour and punch that you would expect.

A word of warning however, just like England this region isn't the place for pinot noir. We searched high and low for a decent one but all we found was wine that tasted like cardboard with a tannin headbutt. Pinot in Alsace is served chilled and often with an air of apology. The locals admit that it isn't what they do best. On the bright side we loved the pinot gris and gewurztraminer, especially the grand cru (premium) versions. Intense, rich and amazingly smooth. Like Tassie wine it was hard to find a bad one.

Aside from the white wine the reason you go to Alsace is the history and landscape. Hills with old castles or forts dot the horizon and down in the valleys there are a large number of villages that have survived world wars and time so they retain at least part of their medieval character. Cobbled streets, half timber houses and pleasant village squares provide relaxing but interesting views. You can spend an amazing amount of time aimlessly wandering.

We stayed in Colmar, which is a town that shares the medieval charm of the surrounding villages, for it's amenities and location. It's big enough to have everything you would want but small enough to be walkable and relaxed. While there are a number of wine merchants that offer tastings it is worth heading out into the countryside to the nearby villages. This is where you find the small family run wine producers and where you get to the heart of the local wines.

Where did we go, what did we taste?

Wolfberger - Alsace for big daddy

Before we hopped on our rented push bikes for some village action our host sent us here on the basis that it's open every day, all day, which is not the norm. What's more it is the major producer of the region and would serve as a great yardstick for other smaller producers we might visit. It is certainly an imposing place. There are the original buildings which lend the place some character and then the massive black glass factory across the road. 

The cellar door is located within the much larger gift shop. There are a million ways to spend money here. Walking past all the merchandise you get to the tasting area. On our visit we saw a large number of staff kind of standing around talking in what we have learnt is the accepted French fashion. After quite a bit of time one of them wandered over to see what we wanted.

Whether by luck or design our host spoke very good English courtesy of a year in England and an English girlfriend. Of more relevance was the fact that he was a wine lover rather than merely a member of staff. He gave us a very good introduction to the Alsace wine region and it's various varieties.

The range here is quite extensive and of good quality. You start with the entry level wines (known as regional) and then progress through the mid range to the grand cru (premium). We only tried wines from varieties we didn't know but if you tried the lot you'd be there for at least a couple of hours.

The tasting was free and our host seemed quite happy to keep serving despite missing his lunch. We ended up purchasing a grand cru riesling. Our habit of only liking the most expensive wines had followed us from Australia. Having said that all the wines were significantly cheaper than would be the case in Australia.

It won't be the best wine you'll find in Alsace but it is a great place to start.

After Wolfberger it was time to mount the push bikes of pain and head out into the countryside. Consult any guidebook and the same three or four villages get mentioned. There is a very good reason for this, they are amazing. But you don't need to brave the hordes of tourists. Just about every village in Alsace has vineyards and tasting. 

Just outside Colmar is a village called Eguisheim. A 6 kilometre bike ride through fields and vineyards will take you there. If you're into wine there is no need to go anywhere else.

While this place didn't rate a mention in our guide book, a lot of 'mature' German tourists had heard of it. Fortunately they all stick to a few cobbled streets in the centre of the village.

The wine producers are located toward the edge of the village. To find them simply ride up and down these outer streets. You'll see a small sign containing the name of the place and the all important word 'degustation'. Cellar doors are closed between 12 noon and 2pm so timing is everything. What's more October is harvest month so it can be difficult to find anyone to serve you. If you do be prepared for the fact that no one may speak English.

Don't be put off by these minor issues. People are friendly, patient and quite keen to share their wines.

Domain Mann

We were lucky with our first family producer. We met someone who had worked in Australia for a year. He arrived there without speaking a word of English but soon picked it up by working in Far North Queensland.

Between his bit of Queensland English, our bit of French and the phrasebook we had a very enjoyable tasting.

This was our first indication of how good pinot gris is in Alsace and a confirmation of the diabolical nature of their pinot. The whites here were amazing and the place is well worth a visit.

Leon Baur

After a spot of palate cleansing lunch we decided to try one of the shop front cellar doors that dot the centre of Eguisheim. This was our one and only 'pay a fee' tasting. In many ways we would have liked to have done this more often. When you are travelling your ability to purchase bottles is restricted. As for sending a dozen back to Australia, forget it, we checked.

As a result there is always that awkward moment at the end of the tasting when everyone realises that no bottles will be bought. Strained smiles and the odd embarrassed "thank you" is no way to end an otherwise pleasant tasting. 

The polite madam who conducted the tasting didn't speak English. Not that this stopped her from giving us the sales pitch. The range itself was good but not particularly memorable.  Overall pretty good value for money and the cellar door is just down the road from lunch so there's no excuse for not dropping in.

Francois 'the patron' Bannwarth

Francois was our next stop. Again we had to rely on our French. Tres bon was said frequently and smoothly but anything else had to wait for some furious page turning of the phrasebook.

Despite our lack of ability with French it was pretty obvious we were dealing with a character. The way he was referred to as 'patron' by the other staff may also have meant he was a tad important.

It didn't take Francois long to realise that we weren't the usual tourist tyre kickers. He started to hide the bottles to see if we could guess the variety and whether or not they were grand cru. We'd like to say we did Australia proud but since we didn't lets move on.

By now we were starting to get a handle on the rieslings. While we love the flavour we found that even the best of them lacked enough acid. Being fans of the Tassie equivalent we were missing the structure.

The rest of the white range however was staggeringly good. Except for the pinot of course which was pure evil. Not that we told the Patron. If you go to Alsace this is one cellar door that you should visit.

Joseph Freudenreich

Located in the centre of Eguisheim and housed in a quintessential half timber building this was the most picturesque cellar door we visited. Unfortunately the fantastic setting doesn't translate into the wines. They were pretty bland in comparison to the offerings from the other domains.  

The range is large and the tastings generous but nothing really spoke to us and as a result we got a bit of a glare from the staff when we didn't buy anything.

If you are pressed for time just take a photo of the building and spend the time you save looking for other cellar doors.

Domain Bruno Sorg

It is places like this that are the reason we love matching wine tasting and travel. Domain Bruno Sorg isn't the easiest place to find but makes aimless push biking really pay off. Like a lot of places we went to it looked deserted but we found a lovely lady who seems to do everything from admin to cellar door.

At first she said she didn't speak English but after some cackhanded flirting in very bad French it turned out that her English was better than we thought.

Domaine Brobecker

Our last cellar door was a slightly odd experience. We felt welcome and in the way at the same time. The owner was clearly busy and our message about not buying was not the way to begin our acquaintance. Still he took the time to take us through his range in pretty good humour.

He also spoke excellent English which was both good and ... well ... not. While it meant we could ask a lot of questions, our attempts to practice French were met with an increasingly terse "I speak English".

The wines, however, were excellent and we would have bought by the dozen if we had been able.

Overall Impressions

Alsace is a proper wine growing region. It's set up, outside harvest time, for wine loving visitors. While tourists of the mature persuasion get carted about in those frightful 'quaint' tourist trains in the guidebook approved villages you can be off elsewhere finding world class wines without travelling huge, or even large distances.

Most of the cellar door staff we met were welcoming, friendly and knowledgeable. We suspect it would have been even better if our French was adequate. There are so many small family run wine producers making the most amazing wines we think you could spend months and still not see even half of what is on offer.

Along the way there are mountains of sausages to be eaten and incredible beers to be had if you ever get sick of the white wine. Alsace will make you fall in love with white wine all over again. But a word to the wise, as with England stay clear of the Pinot.

We were told to go to Alsace before we left Australia and it's the best travel advice we've ever been given. Seriously, don't even think about going to France without a couple of weeks set aside for Alsace.

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