2007 Pinot Gris Dorfburg, Meyer Fonné

Dorfburg is lieu-dit that is located equidistant from Ingersheim, Katzenthal, Turkheim and Niedermorschwihr. The bedrock the Jurassic and contains round, quite soft particles built up of concentric layers of limestone. It is called oolitic - egg-shaped - limestone. The rock weathers to a calcareous but not heavy clay. It is perfect terroir for Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer that become fresh, firm and full.

2007 Pinot Gris Dorfburg from Meyer-Fonné in Katzenthal is bright yellow. The fragrance is developed and absolutely clean with notes of dark chocolate, figs, oranges and toasted almonds. The palate is dense yet light, but a great acidity that supports the discrete residual sweetness and creates lovely balance and harmony. You never get enough of the wines from Meyer-Fonné! Price: € 12.50.

2009 Riesling Grand Cru Kaefferkopf, Meyer-Fonné

When the different Grands Crus of Alsace where delimited, one criterion was that they should be pretty homogeneous in a geological sense. Every Grand Cru is supposed to have a defined and distinctive character. Maybe that was why Kaefferkopf was recognized as a Grand Cru as late as 2006, a full 16 years after the previous group of vineyards were elevated. Undoubtably,  Kaefferkopf is complex, with three different parts and highly variable geology and microclimate.

2009 Riesling Grand Cru Kaefferkopf from Meyer-Fonné in Katzenthal is deep yellow. The scent is saturated and fresh with hints of wet stones, smoked pork, orange flowers and light honey tones. The taste is medium-bodied, rich and complex with fantastic acidity and a sandy rough feel in the extremely long finish. A really good and masterful wine from one of the best producers in Alsace. Price: €15.

2010 Riesling Westweingarten, Anstotz

That the more similar wines you drink, the more different they appear. There is surely thousands of Alsace Riesling made each year that are dry and fresh with aromas of citrus and green apple on the nose. But no one is ever identical. It's like listening to classical music. The score is the same, the instrumentation identical but there is an artistic expression that creates a prtofound variation. It is not primarily a question of better or worse, but different qualities.

2010 Riesling Westweingarten from Anstotz in Balbronn in northern Alsace is pale yellow. The scent is fresh, youtful and clean with notes of wet stones, green apple and a touch of honey. The taste is light, almost elusive, and behind the acidic attack is a clean and lovely fruit, offering timeless elegance and versatility. An honest wine that exudesjoie de vivre. Price: € 8.

2010 Pinot Gris Gottesthal, Paul Buecher

The southern gateway to Alsace is not, as often said, the city of Thann, but the municipality Leimbach, just south of Thann. Here wine has been cultivated since the 1300s on a bedrock of limestone. Throughout the municipality there are only 23 acres of land that may be used as vineyards, but just one single hectare is cultivated for grapes. So the wine that comes from here is simply unique. And so good!

2010 Pinot Gris Gottesthal from Paul Buecher in Wettolsheim is dense and yellow-green. The fragrance contains peach, pears, orange, apricot and hazelnuts. The taste is dense, fruity but elegant with a tension and a wonderfully fresh acidity. A perfect wine for grilled vegetables and savory meats. Price: 10 €.

2011 Riesling Dirstelberg, Agathe Bursin

There are producers who manage to make wines that can be approached on an undemanding casual way, but still has a depth and complexity that so that each time you put your nose to the glass, or lip to rim, you discover something new. Agathe Bursine is such a producer. All wines from her extremely well-run small property are fresh, clean and fruity. Prices are very moderate, in fact too low according to all objective standards.

2011 Riesling Dirstelberg from Agathe Bursin in Westhalten has aromas of passion fruit fruit, lemons, ripe green apples and wet stones. The taste is medium bodied and harmonious with fresh acidity, lots of juicy fruit, a balance on the dry side and a wonderfully tight minerality that stays long in the mouth. This is how Riesling should taste! Price: €8.60.

2008 Riesling Grand Cru Engelberg, Maurice Heckmann

Some of us do not appreciate high levels of alcohol in wines. Hence, we look for wines from
sensible producers that have terroirs on cold, calcareous soils with great exposition. One such terroir is Grand Cru Engelberg in the north, 20 km due west of Strasbourg. Here producers such as Heckmann, Pfister, Bechtold, Schmitt and Loew produce wines with a low-key and food-friendly balance, freshness and complexity.

2008 Riesling Grand Cru Engelberg by Maurice Heckmann in Dahlenheim is deep yellow. The aroma is developed and generous with lemon, mango, toast, white raisins and the pleasant notes of petrol that one often finds in this wine. The taste is medium bodied and dry with succulent fruit and a superior, zesty and mineral adicity that adds great qualities to this honest wine. Price: €9.

2005 Crémant, Bruno Sorg

Sparkling wine made ​​with the methode champenoise ferments a second time in the bottle, lying stacked sur lattes. During the period sur lattes, carbon dioxide is formed  and the complexity develops as dead yeast is degraded by means of autolysis. This sparkling wine has spent more than six years sur lattes in a magnum bottle before being degorged, which is on level with the most ambitious vintage champagnes. And it shows!

2005 Crémant from Bruno Sorg in Eguisheim has a bright yellow color with a green tint. The fragrance has everything you could want: toasted sourdough bread, slightly over-ripe apples, dark chocolate, citrus and a little brewer's yeast. The taste is fresh, clean, complex and elegant with lovely juicy fruit that stands up against the grippy acids. The finish is long, mineral and harmonious. A crémant far, far beyond the ordinary. Price: €18 for a magnum.