The most-planted variety across Alsace's 51 Grands Crus. Steely, mineral and bone-dry in the classical Trimbach idiom of Ribeauville, denser and stonier on the granite of Schlossberg and Brand, and capable of late-harvest Vendanges Tardives and botrytised Selection de Grains Nobles in warm years. The Schoenenbourg of Riquewihr and the volcanic Rangen of Thann are notable single-vineyard expressions, while Trimbach's Clos Sainte-Hune at Rosacker is a long-standing dry-Riesling touchstone.
Alsace's lychee-and-rose grape, a pink-skinned mutation of Traminer and a key variety for the region's botrytised Selections de Grains Nobles. Eichberg and Pfersigberg above Eguisheim are its spiritual home, with Sporen at Riquewihr and Furstentum above Kientzheim adding rich late-harvest interpretations. Dry styles from biodynamic estates like Bott-Geyl, Albert Mann and Marcel Deiss have rebuilt its case after a long sweetness drift.
Formerly labelled Tokay d'Alsace until the EU phased the name out in 2007, Alsace's Pinot Gris bears almost no resemblance to Italian Pinot Grigio. Full-bodied, smoky and often off-dry, it carries celebrated late-harvest cuvees from the volcanic Rangen de Thann at Zind-Humbrecht's Clos Saint-Urbain and Schoffit's Clos Saint-Theobald. Vorbourg, Hengst and Furstentum are other touchstones.
Two distinct varieties travel under the Muscat d'Alsace name: the fragrant Muscat Blanc a Petits Grains and the earlier-ripening Muscat Ottonel. Together they make Alsace's floral, grape-scented aperitif wine, traditionally bone-dry and the regional reflex pairing for white asparagus in season. Best known on the Goldert Grand Cru of Gueberschwihr and the Froehn of Zellenberg.
Long Alsace's workhorse white, Sylvaner found its dignity in 2005 when the Zotzenberg above Mittelbergheim was granted Grand Cru status, the only Alsace Grand Cru where Sylvaner is permitted. Dry, herbal, white-flowered and saline at its best, with old-vine bottlings from Albert Seltz and Sylvie Spielmann making the strongest case for the variety today.
Two genetically distinct grapes share a single Alsace label: Pinot Blanc and the rounder, lower-acid Auxerrois. Together they form the backbone of Cremant d'Alsace and the bulk of the affordable Edelzwicker and Klevner blends. Still bottlings from Josmeyer, Albert Mann and Weinbach show the variety stretched well beyond its everyday role.
Alsace's only red, planted on every cooler-climate slope from Marlenheim to Thann. Long the source of pale, light-bodied wines and rose, Pinot Noir has been taken increasingly seriously since the 1990s and was finally admitted to three Grands Crus by a 2022 INAO reform: Hengst at Wintzenheim, Kirchberg de Barr and Vorbourg at Rouffach. Marcel Deiss, Albert Mann and Mure now bottle Pinot Noir that competes with Burgundy at fine-wine prices.
A tiny niche: the Savagnin Rose B grape, allowed only in five Bas-Rhin communes around Heiligenstein under the Klevener de Heiligenstein appellation since 1971. Around 70 hectares total. Spicy, lightly aromatic, white-flowered and dry, with the texture of Pinot Gris but a quieter perfume than Gewurztraminer. Local in the deepest sense; rarely seen outside the villages of Heiligenstein, Bourgheim, Goxwiller, Gertwiller and Obernai.