2007 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Pfersigberg, Odile Weber

Odile is an important name in Alsace since Sainte Odile is the patron saint of Alsace. She was born blind in 662 A.D., as the daughter of her cruel father Etichon, Duke of Alsace. During her time on earth she managed to bring back her brother from the dead, regain her own sight through prayers and make her father build a monastery in Hohwald close to Andlau, southwest of Strasbourg. Odile was canonized 1807.

2007 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Pfersigberg 2007 by Odile Weber in Eguisheim offers a fresh nose with lilac, minerals, ripe stone fruits and honey. The taste is medium bodied and elegant with savoury fruit, supported by high acidity and a minerality typical of the terroir. Really good! Price: € 12.

Riesling Clos Windsbuhl, Zind-Humbrecht

Clos Windsbuhl is located relatively high, at 300-350 m and has a cool microclimate. The bloom is usually two weeks later than at, say, Grand Cru Brand in Colmar. This year, however, spring came early and the grapes were allowed sit a long as 120 days on the vines. Perhaps it is the explanation for wine's amazing complexity.

2007 Riesling Clos Windsbuhl from Zind-Humbrecht in Turckheim has golden yellow, dense color. The nose is tight and clean with flint, coriander, dates and chocolate. The taste is very dry, crisp with a steel-like, clean acidity and plenty of minerality and grapefruit peel in the long finish. 13.1% alcohol, a mere 1.4 grams of residual sugar per liter. Price: € 60.

2007 Riesling Grand Cru Saering, Schlumberger

Take a skillful producer, one of the most reliable years in memory, the worlds' greatest variety, a good vineyard and you can't go wrong. Although Saering does not have the punch of its' neighbors Kessler and Spiegel, the accessible style makes this wine a real charmer.

2007 Riesling Grand Cru Saering from Schlumberger in Geubwiller is medium yellow. It has a typical and attractive grape aroma of rubber, lemon peel and fried apple pie. The taste is medium-bodied with a slightly agressive acidity, smooth and attractive fruit and apples in the aftertaste. Price: €18.

2008 Riesling Grand Cru Spiegel, Dirler-Cadé

In a sense it is a tragedy that most Alsace wines from 2008 will be comsumed way to early.This vintage gave wines with high levels of noble acidity - tartric acid - as well as excellent aromatic complexity and moderate sugar levels. There is only one advice to give - stock up!

2008 Riesling Grand Cru Spiegel from Dirler-Cadé in Bergholtz is medium golden yellow. The aroma is huge with mano, honey, pineapple, apple sauce and a whiff of rubber. The taste is like an iron fist, loaded with layers of focused fruit and sandy structure of acidity. No perception of sugar whatsoever. Those who have patience will be richly rewarded. Price: €18.

2008 Riesling Steinacker, Louis Sipp

It is easy to make the false assumption that a terroir in Alsace need to have an ancient history to produce good wines. However, only few lieux-dits formed after the last glaciation have a strong reputation. These are Herrenweg (notable farmed by Zind-Humbrecht), Clos des Capucins (the vineyard surrounding domaine Weinbach) and Steinacker (of Ribeauvillé). The wines from these soils offer may not be the most complex, but are full of pure pleasure.

2008 Riesling Steinacker from Louis Sipp in Ribeauvillé is medium golden yellow. It has a already a surprisingly developed, rich aroma with petrol, honey, oranges and yellow apples. The taste is medium-bodied with plenty of fruit, a fresh and clean acidity and a certain astringency of grapefruit peel in the finish. A charmer with many qualities. Price: €10.

2007 Riesling Grand Cru Pfersigberg, Bruno Sorg

Year after year, François Sorg, son of Bruno, puts out a range of pure, complex, lovely wines that are great illustrations of their terroir. The top-range Rieslings are made from Grand Cru Florimont in Ingersheim and Grand Cru Pfersigberg in Eguisheim. While the former defines purity and elegance, the latter defines complexity and minerality. However, they share the two most important features of any wine of quality - personality and balance.

2007 Riesling Grand Cru Pfersigberg from Bruno Sorg in Eguisheim offers complex, superb and deep aromas of grapefruit, rubber, coffee, ripe exotic fruits and - more importantly - the soils of Eguisheim just after rain. The taste has a trace of bitterness, loads of mature fruit and mouthwatering acidity, but most of all the structure and minerality are first class. A Riesling just like I want it. Price: €11.

2008 Pinot Blanc Saint-André, Rémy Gresser

Along with Val d'Agly in Roussillon,  Alsace has the most complex geology in the whole of France and thus in the world. The youngest soils are formed by sand, gravel and stone were deposited from running meltwater that formed deep river beds by the end of the last glaciation 10 000 years ago. Apart from the sheer granite, the oldest soils consist of shale that is approximately 450 million years old! And no other soil type gives such an amazing combination of ripeness, texture, freshness, elegance and finesse that shale!

2008 Pinot Blanc Saint-André from Rémy Gresser in Andlau has an amazingly complex nose, with orange, bay leaves, anise, smoke and ripe butter-pear. The taste is medium bodied, silky and elegant with soothing fruit that is in perfect harmony with a racy, good acidity that is not the least aggressive. Price: € 7.