📍 Bas-Rhin

Bas-Rhin, or "Lower Rhine", is the northern part of Alsace around Strasbourg in France. It is a département, one of the two into which Alsace is divided. The word "lower" means that the land lies downstream along the Rhine, in the north.

Wine villages stretch along the slopes of the Vosges beside the Alsace Wine Route. There is less sun and more rain here than in southern Alsace, but the slopes warm well. The main grapes are Riesling, Sylvaner and Pinot Blanc. Alsace wines are labelled by grape and are, as a rule, dry and aromatic.

Bas-Rhin has several plots of the highest category, the Alsace grands crus. They include Altenberg de Wolxheim, Frankstein, Kirchberg de Barr, Moenchberg, Praelatenberg, Steinklotz, Zotzenberg, Altenberg de Bergbieten, Engelberg, Kloeckelberg, Kastelberg, Muenchberg, Winzenberg, Bruderthal and Wiebelsberg. Each has its own soil type.

Bas-Rhin is part of Alsace, and Alsace is part of French wine. Here both place and grape matter.