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Wine region

Alsace

Alsace is a wine region in France, home to 397 wineries, producing red, rose, white wines, known for Cremant, Gewurztraminer, Riesling.

Alsace at a glance: predominantly white; known for Cremant, Gewurztraminer, Riesling; wines range from VdF to PDO.
On this page

Alsace's 397 wineries produce predominantly white wine; Riesling is the most common single-grape bottling; wines carry AOC, AOP, PDO designation.

About the Alsace region

    Location
    Alsace wine or Alsatian wine (French: Vin d'Alsace; German: Elsässer Wein; Haut Rhin Alsatian: d'r Wii vum Elsàss; Bas Rhin Alsatian: de Win vum Elsàss) is produced in the Alsace region in France and is primarily white wine.
    Soils
    Alsace vineyards form a geological mosaic that includes limestone, granite, schist, gneiss and sandstone; lower slopes also include marl and loess, while the Rhine plain contains silt-and-gravel alluvium.
    Distinctive
    The vineyards are concentrated in a narrow strip, running in a roughly north–south direction, on the lower eastern slopes of the Vosges, at altitudes of 175–420 metres (574–1,378 ft).

Region facts sourced from Wikipedia contributors, “Alsace (AOC)”, French Wikipedia, revision 237343628, retrieved 2026-07-12. (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International), Wikipedia contributors, "Alsace wine", Wikipedia, revision 1351653670, retrieved 2026-07-11. (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International).

Characteristic grapes

Alsace is best known for Cremant, Gewurztraminer, Riesling. The most-bottled single-varietal wines here are Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Muscat. Alsace's signature grapes often go into blends, so single-grape bottlings skew toward other varieties.

Wine styles from Alsace

Most common single-grape wines

When Alsace wines are made from a single grape (rather than a blend), these are the most common:

Wine profile

Alsace is predominantly a white-wine region (about 86% of its wines) — expect white wines, often from grapes like Gewürztraminer.

5,488 distinct Alsace wines tracked, spanning the colours and styles below.

  • White4,741 · 86%
  • Red507 · 9%
  • Rose239 · 4%

Types: Sparkling, Still.

Representative Alsace wines

Selected from stable product-to-region relationships for diversity — not a claim that these are the region's best wines.

  • Backert — Thoros
  • Domaine Neumeyer — Pinot Gris Grand Cru
  • Domaine Fleck — Gewrettissime
  • Mann — Letzenberg Pinot Gris
  • Zimmermann — Pinot Gris Vendanges Tardives
  • Domaine Dussourt — Pinot Gris Vendanges Tardives
  • Hubert Metz — Pinot Noir Vieilles Vignes
  • Gruss — Gewurztraminer Les Roches

Sub-regions & appellations

Within Alsace, these appellationsA legally-defined smaller growing area within a wine region, often with its own grapes and rules. are smaller growing areas, often with their own character:

  • Cremant d'Alsace
  • Eichberg
  • Kaefferkopf
  • Zinnkoepfle
  • Schlossberg
  • Hengst
  • Goldert
  • Schoenenbourg
  • Frankstein
  • Pfersigberg
  • Brand
  • Mambourg

Quality designations

Wines here span quality tiers from everyday VdF to the strictly-controlled PDO — you'll find both accessible and prestige bottles.

  • AOCFrance's protected-origin designation (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée) — controls where and how a wine is made.
  • AOPThe EU protected-origin label (Appellation d'Origine Protégée) — the modern equivalent of AOC.
  • PDOEU Protected Designation of Origin — guarantees a wine comes from and is made in a specific place.
  • VdFVin de France — the entry-level French category, with the fewest restrictions.

Estate classifications

  • Grand CruA top vineyard/estate ranking — typically the highest quality classification in its region.

France wine designations

AOC
AOC is the French national controlled-origin recognition for a product whose production stages are carried out using recognised know-how within the same geographical area, giving the product its characteristics.
AOP
An AOP identifies a product whose production stages take place using recognised know-how within the same geographical area, which gives the product its characteristics.
IGP
An IGP identifies a product whose quality, reputation or other characteristics are linked to its geographical origin.
PDO
PDO is the European Union protected designation of origin category.
VdF
Vin de France is the French country-of-origin wording used for wine in the category without a protected geographical indication.

Classifications

2eme Cru Classe
Within the 1855 Sauternes and Barsac classification, 2ème Cru Classé is the third of three sweet-white-wine levels.
3eme Cru Classe
Within the 1855 Bordeaux red-wine classification, 3ème Cru Classé denotes the third of five ranked levels.
4eme Cru Classe
Within the 1855 Bordeaux red-wine classification, 4ème Cru Classé denotes the fourth of five ranked levels.
5eme Cru Classe
Within the 1855 Bordeaux red-wine classification, 5ème Cru Classé denotes the fifth of five ranked levels.
Cru Classe
In the Graves classification, Cru Classé denotes an estate authorised to use the title Grand Cru Classé de Graves; all current classified estates are in Pessac-Léognan.
Grand Cru
In Burgundy, Grand Cru is an AOC category applied to 33 appellations identified by individual Climat names.
Grand Cru Classe
In the current Saint-Émilion classification, Grand Cru Classé is a classified-estate level for red wines of Saint-Émilion; the 2022 edition lists 71 estates at this level.
Premier Cru
In Burgundy, Premier Cru identifies precisely defined individual plots, known as Climats, within certain Village appellations.
Premier Cru Classe
Within the 1855 Sauternes and Barsac classification, Premier Cru Classé is the middle of three sweet-white-wine levels.
Premier Cru Superieur
Within the 1855 Sauternes and Barsac classification, Premier Cru Supérieur is the highest of three sweet-white-wine levels.
Premier Grand Cru Classe A
In the current Saint-Émilion classification, Premier Grand Cru Classé A is the distinguished A level within the Premier Grand Cru Classé category; the 2022 edition lists two estates.
Understanding the wine data
Designation
The protected-origin or administrative category associated with the wine, interpreted using country-aware rules. The same abbreviation can mean different things in different countries, so we only show the meaning approved for that country.
Classification
An additional quality, hierarchy, vineyard, site, ageing or producer classification where supplied. Its meaning varies by country — it is not a universal quality score.
How this ranking is built

Producers are included when WhatDrink has a canonical producer-to-region relationship supported by the catalogue data. Display order may use represented wine count and relationship confidence to provide useful coverage; it is not a ranking of winery quality, prestige, production volume or critical acclaim.

Representative wines are selected from products with a stable relationship to this region, with preference for clear producer identity and a useful spread of producers, wine styles and designations. Inclusion is not an editorial score and does not mean these are the region’s best wines.

Explore Alsace

Ways to browse Alsace — each count is the size of that specific collection (a subset of the 5,488 wines tracked above):

  • White Alsace (3,415)
  • Red Alsace (503)
  • Rose Alsace (110)

How to choose a good Alsace wine

For everyday drinking, VdF bottles are the accessible choice; for something special, PDO signals the region's most tightly-controlled, prestige wines.

FAQs

Where is Alsace?
Alsace wine or Alsatian wine ( French : Vin d'Alsace ; German : Elsässer Wein ; Haut Rhin Alsatian : d'r Wii vum Elsàss ; Bas Rhin Alsatian : de Win vum Elsàss ) is produced in the Alsace region in France and is primarily white wine .
Which grapes are associated with Alsace?
Alsace is represented in the WhatDrink region dataset by Gewürztraminer, Riesling, varies by region. Grape coverage reflects the products currently linked to the region and is not a complete legal planting register.
What do the designation terms on Alsace wines mean?
AOC: AOC is the French national controlled-origin recognition for a product whose production stages are carried out using recognised know-how within the same geographical area, giving the product its characteristics. AOP: An AOP identifies a product whose production stages take place using recognised know-how within the same geographical area, which gives the product its characteristics. PDO: PDO is the European Union protected designation of origin category. VdF: Vin de France is the French country-of-origin wording used for wine in the category without a protected geographical indication. These terms describe geographical or regulatory categories; they do not by themselves guarantee that one producer or bottle is better than another.
How are wineries and producers selected for Alsace?
Producers are included when WhatDrink has a canonical producer-to-region relationship supported by the catalogue data. Display order may use represented wine count and relationship confidence to provide useful coverage; it is not a ranking of winery quality, prestige, production volume or critical acclaim.
How are representative Alsace wines selected?
Representative wines are selected from products with a stable relationship to this region, with preference for clear producer identity and a useful spread of producers, wine styles and designations. Inclusion is not an editorial score and does not mean these are the region’s best wines.
How much wine data does WhatDrink have for Alsace?
The current regional catalogue contains 5488 linked wines from 397 linked producers. Counts describe WhatDrink catalogue coverage and may change as source data is refreshed.

Regional data is aggregated from wine directory and product-catalogue sources; grape and style associations reflect characteristic varieties and may vary by producer and vintage.