Alsace Wine Route

The Route des Vins d'Alsace has been France's model wine road since 1953 - its oldest - running some 170 kilometres along the Vosges foothills from Marlenheim to Thann through a near-continuous ribbon of vines and villages that look assembled by a set designer: Riquewihr, Eguisheim, Kaysersberg and dozens more, all half-timbered gables, storks' nests and window-box geraniums. The wines are Alsace's own grammar - dry rieslings, spiced gewurztraminers, pinot gris and cremant - grown on a patchwork of slopes that includes 51 grand cru sites, and poured in family cellars where tastings stay refreshingly informal; winstubs, the region's wood-panelled wine parlours, handle the tarte flambee and choucroute side of the argument. Harvest season stacks festivals village upon village, a cycling route shadows the road through the vines for those who earn their tastings, and the whole route strings together like a necklace - every few kilometres, another improbable village.

What you actually see

• Riquewihr and Eguisheim - the route's most perfectly preserved villages.
• The grand cru slopes - steep named vineyards climbing the Vosges foothills.
• The family cellars - informal tastings of riesling and gewurztraminer.
• The winstubs - wood-panelled parlours of tarte flambee and local pours.

When to go

May to October is the open season; September and October bring harvest bustle, wine festivals and vine leaves turning gold - the route's finest form. December swaps vines for the villages' famous Christmas markets.

Honest expectations

Tasting and driving do not mix - designate a driver, join a tour or cycle the vineyard route between villages. Riquewihr and the star villages jam solid on summer and Advent weekends, while the lesser-known stops two bends away pour the same grapes in peace. Many family cellars close midday and Sundays; a purchase after a long free tasting is good manners.

Nearby

Colmar's old town, Strasbourg's Grande Ile and the Vosges ridge walks above the vines.