 25 years ago I wrote a dissertation on the problems of marketing the wines of Alsace in the UK. I little thought that a quarter of a century on the difficulties expressed in the trade then would remain obstinately entrenched now. The main misunderstanding is that Alsace is part of Germany, if not geographically then certainly stylistically, which glaring error colours the opinions of all those in possession of this crazy notion. Apart from compounding the felony by implying that there is something wrong with the wines of Germany which, industrial dross excepted, are among the most exquisite on the planet, it then leads to the accusation that Alsace wines are too sweet. How sweet is too sweet and what's wrong with sweet anyway? Depending on what you like and what you're eating you might need something sweet. If not, maybe it's just as well that most of the region's output is actually dry. Ripe certainly, sometimes peachily round, sometimes markedly scented, usually lower in acidity, but dry. These are among the most original wines in France, food-friendly, fully-flavoured and of outstanding purity and should be thoroughly researched.
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