It’s no secret that I Love France. I think the relationship started back when I was a dweeby ninth grader. Instead of going to parties and joining the football team, I was writing poems and enjoying being the only guy in my French class. (I just went through my high school yearbook trying to verify this, and couldn’t, but no doubt it’s true as I was quickly reminded that I was often one of only a few boys amongst a group of girls, purely by accident I assure you. I did, however, verify that I’m glad to no longer be in high school.) I studied French language and culture all through high school and into college, the culmination of which was a study abroad stint at the Université de Strasbourg in the beautiful region of Alsace.  I was briefly introduced to some of the incredible wines produced in the region, and they have been counted among my favorites ever since. Sadly, Alsatian wine isn’t the easiest to find Stateside as many have fairly limited production (compared to other regions) and many retailers haven’t caught on to the beauty these wines can have. Fortunately, every other year or so, my wife and I make a trek to France and this year we are returning to Alsace for a little over a week. And so in preparation for that trip, I’ve been booking winery visits and brushing up on Alsatian wine facts. Over the next two months I’ll be posting more about Alsace, and sharing some of my experiences there.

Karen MacNeil has a beautiful description of Alsace in her book, The Wine Bible (which coincidentally just released its second edition, highly recommended): “...a wine region so charming it may as well have emerged straight out of a fairy tale. The vineyards are sun dappled, the half-timbered houses are cheerfully adorned with flower boxes, the 118 villages--centuries old--are immaculate. All are set against the grand backdrop of the Vosges Mountains.” And her thoughts on Alsace riesling: “mostly dry, broad wines with palate-coating, full-throttle flavors that lean toward gunflint, steel, and minerals” and my favorite part, “all drizzled with peaches, green plums, and a limey sort of citrus.”