Trimbach's house Riesling, dry, taut and stony, is the easiest serious entry to Alsace. Built on fruit from across Ribeauville's slopes, it remains the benchmark dry Alsace Riesling well under twenty-five euros.
Tip: This is the wine to drink with choucroute or tarte flambee; the Reserve label is a step up but the basic Riesling is the value buy.
Leon Beyer's flagship cuvee, a dry Riesling built for the restaurant trade in a famously austere house style. Lemon-pith, gunflint and a long mineral finish, served in three-star Michelin rooms across France for decades.
Tip: Beyer's Riesling is more austere than most rivals; serve a touch cool with shellfish or sushi, and try side by side with a Trimbach to see the village's two great house styles.
Wolfberger is a major Cremant d'Alsace producer and the Brut is a reliable supermarket value. Crisp apple and brioche from a Pinot Blanc and Auxerrois base, traditional-method, comfortably under fifteen euros.
Tip: Use this as the house aperitif fizz; the rose version is also under fifteen euros and useful with charcuterie, while the cuvee Prestige is the small step up.
The cooperative cave at Pfaffenheim turns out a clean, fruit-forward Pinot Blanc at unbeatable price, the easiest weekday white in Alsace. Soft apple and pear with a low-acid finish, comfortably under fifteen euros.
Tip: Pinot Blanc is the underrated workhorse of Alsace; this bottle is the case for buying it by the case for summer apero use.
Bestheim is a major Cremant d'Alsace house and its Prestige Brut is a serious step up from supermarket fizz. Pinot Blanc and Pinot Noir, twelve months on lees, fine bead and brioche-and-pear under twenty euros.
Tip: The Prestige label is worth the small premium over the basic Bestheim Cremant; pour it as the table fizz for Christmas or a long Sunday lunch.
Schlumberger's Les Princes Abbes Riesling sits below the estate's four Grands Crus at Guebwiller and offers a serious Riesling at gentle price. Dry, mineral and racy, with the long stony finish of the Vosges sandstone slopes.
Tip: Princes Abbes is the smart trade-up from supermarket Riesling; pair with trout or pike-perch in beurre blanc to feel the wine's saline cut.
The companion Pinot Gris in the Les Princes Abbes range, off-dry with ripe pear and a touch of smoke. A versatile food wine and one of the few sub-twenty-five-euro Pinot Gris that carries house-level Grand-Cru DNA.
Tip: Off-dry Pinot Gris is the classic partner for foie gras and choucroute royale; serve at twelve degrees to balance the residual sugar with the wine's acidity.