Alsace wine region is located in the eastern part of France on the border with Germany and Switzerland. To the west, the Alsace region has Champagne and Burgundy wine regions and to the south, Jura and Savoie. Located on the borders of Switzerland and Germany, the Alsace wine region benefits from an ideal location in the heart of Europe. This also had an influence on the heritage, gastronomy, and even on the wines of Alsace. It is a great mix of German and French culture. It also benefits from a geography and terroir that creates a unique micro-climate.

The white wines of Alsace are famous, including haunting, rose-petal-scented gewurztraminer, captivatingly complex riesling and indulgently textured pinot blanc. Its dessert wines are among the finest on the planet, while red wines from pinot noir are becoming increasingly successful too, and will appeal to lovers of red Burgundy.

• Key grapes: Riesling, gewurztraminer, muscat, pinot gris, pinot noir.

• Key styles: Dry but aromatic white wines, lighter red wines, sweet wines (Vendange Tardive and Sélection de Grains Nobles), sparkling wines (Crémant d’Alsace).

An Alsace label is one of the easiest to read. In contrast to other parts of France where wines take their name from their regions of production, Alsace wines are helpfully labelled by grape variety and, with the exception of a tiny proportion of pinot noir, most of the production is white. The appellation system is relatively simple too, with wines classified either as AC Vin d’Alsace, Alsace grand cru, or, in the case of sparkling wines, AC Crémant d’Alsace.

Alsace is also famous for blends of different varieties, which make pleasing, aromatic everyday wines, taking a little something from each of the component grapes. At the other end of the scale, there are 50 named grand-cru sites, restricted in labelling terms, to wines made only from the four “noble” grape varieties, riesling, muscat, pinot gris and gewurztraminer. But a curious aspect of Alsace wine labelling, is that in many cases, the producer’s name and branding are considered to be of higher importance than the vineyard of origin.