Alsace lies in a narrow strip between the Vosges mountains and the Rhine, and the mountains make the region possible. They catch the rain coming from the west, leaving Colmar and the vineyards below it among the driest places in France, with long sunny autumns that let grapes hang late. The slopes face east and southeast, the geology changes every few hundred metres from granite to limestone to volcanic sediment, and fifty one of those sites are classified as grand cru.

This is the only French region that labels its wines by grape variety, a habit inherited from the periods when it belonged to Germany. Riesling is the benchmark, dry and taut; Gewurztraminer is the opposite, perfumed and broad; Pinot Gris sits between them with weight and smoke. Muscat completes the four noble varieties. Pinot Blanc and Sylvaner fill the everyday bottles, Pinot Noir provides the small amount of red, and Crémant d'Alsace is now a large part of the output.