📍 Haut-Rhin

Haut-Rhin, or Upper Rhine, is the southern part of Alsace in France, with most of the grands crus. Alsace lies in the east of the country, along the river Rhine, on the border with Germany. Haut-Rhin is its southern half, centred on Colmar.

The vineyards lie at the foot of the Vosges mountains. The mountains shelter them from rain, so Alsace is dry and sunny. The main grapes are Riesling, Gewürztraminer and Pinot Gris. The wines are mostly white and are bottled in tall slim bottles.

Most Alsace grands crus are in the Haut-Rhin. These are separate vineyards recognised as the best: Schlossberg, Brand, Frœhn, Mambourg, Sommerberg, Hengst, Goldert, Sonnenglanz and many others. Each has its own soil character and reputation. Wines labelled grand cru are made only from strictly set grapes.

Haut-Rhin is part of Alsace, but it stands out for its number of famous plots. If you see the word Alsace on a bottle, it is likely that the wine comes from there.

The largest grand cru is Schlossberg, at Kaysersberg and Kientzheim, with 80.28 hectares, and the smallest is Kanzlerberg at 3.2. Most of Alsace's 51 grands crus lie in Haut-Rhin, and together they cover about 1,700 hectares across 47 communes. Alsace as a whole has about 15,600 hectares of vines in two departments, Bas-Rhin in the north and Haut-Rhin in the south. Its AOC decree dates only from 1962, delayed for decades because German wine law applied after the region's political changes.