Contrary to the conventions in the rest of France, the wines of Alsace are sold by principally by their grape variety names, which is a tradition that dates back at least 500 years. This predates California's practice of varietal labeling considerably, by doing so at least fifteen years before Columbus stumbled upon the Americas.

Despite using this easily comprehensible system, Alsace has a number of quirks that can make things confusing, but these are (mostly) easy to understand. There are other classes of wine within the AOC of Alsace, and this is where things become more unpredictable. Each of the four links below will take you to more information on Alsatian wine, to make it seem less obscure.

• Basics of Alsace Wine
• Alsace Makes Blended Wine, Too!
• The Late Harvest Wines--Some Dry, Some Sweet
• From Sparkling Wine to the Arcane Wines--Alsatian Wine Traditions Still Going

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