Alsace

Overview:

Alsace borders Germany—in fact, from the Franco-Prussian war to the end of World War I Alsace was part of Germany. After World War II the district began to market its white wines sold in distinctive long, thin, green or brown bottles. The vineyards are at the foot of the Vosges mountains on east-facing hills set back from the broad Rhine river valley. The hills are never particularly steep or spectacular but are laced by narrow roads that wind along the vineyards from one picturesque village to the next. Villages such as Riquewihr and Kaysersberg are picture-book perfect with their painted eaves and gables, narrow cobbled streets, archways, and window boxes brimming with colorful geraniums.