European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 24, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse                                5ace a taste of the route do v7n Switzerland antique shops have sprouted in villages along alsatian wine Road j kim6chjser color line on  peaceful scene in old Chou Iwine Swine Tian Legant of Fence great fruit latian try tile Anglo Victur Scenic train i and mul Buch Alsace has been called the Modem province of War after War has Lorn apart its old towns and devastated its from 1870 a Alsace was part of most of the provinces difficulties in the world wine markets Stem from that the conscious of the Quality of their own forced the growers of Alsace to produce cheap a Leuling the great alsatian wine tradition was soon forgotten by the win drinking after world War the growers of Little towns such As Hun Wihr and Rique Wihr ripped out the cheap vines that had been forced on them and began the Long task of re then came world War ii and More once the Alsace growers the wines they produce Are at their Best and uniquely Alsa perhaps the Best introduction to these wines is be its qualities Are there for anyone to ii is different without being particularly com Rewun Means if any word Best de scribes the character of Levun Trainer it is the wine can hold its own with the richest of alsatian from the and onion Fortes to the Croute Garni and roast for All its flowery alsatian Gewurz Laminer is a powerful Inci also makes it a Good the most popular of the alsatian wines is a delightful Druid if consumed within a year it a 11 really  be although a great Deal of it compared to a Good most Ordi nary sylvaners Are Duli and there Are quite a Tew other grapes used in including the a common grape in and the both of them show up in the local wines sold in casks and in bottle wines called Zus Cicer or Edd which Are blends of various grapes and which almost never appear in Export Edel Means so Edela ticket is supposed to be a blend of Only the Best but it is usually made from or More Likely third pressings of the Best a shipper will use the first pressing for his own after depend ing on the Quality of the he Mil use the pressings himself or sell them off for someone else to make Edei two other alsatian wines time to time Are the Tokay Otal Sace and the both of which produce Good solid wines with alsatian characteristics Little ele the vineyards of the Best occupy a Small area rarely More umut a mile wide on the cast pm slopes of the Vougn grapes Are grown in a strip some 60 Miles Long but the Best Are a Titt area stretching North from Tiue Buller to a distance of about is wine making in Alsace is truly a cottage Many of he Vigneras own half an acre of vines or less and tend them in the evenings or on weekends when they Are free from their jobs in the Auto plants and after Alsace is As much an Industrial area As it is a wine growing Many growers contracts with he cooperatives others sell or their wine if they go thai far in the to the same family firms that their fathers and Krand fathers sold to Trimbach and some still make wine in their own ancient vats and casks and sell n la the hordes of tourists who descend on Alsace each year from Switz Erland and All Over France the finest alsatian wines an just As they Are in from us riesling eventually the must dedicated alsatian wine tans tires at be Wun Trumler and set Vader and asks for something Hugh Johnson describes the alsatian riesling Best it he Mure a balance of hard and flowery and which kids you on and never the alsatian riesling like most great an experience that changes from Glass to from bottle to bottle and from sip to sip always the but always something a bit because of the number of Small almost All incs from Alsace Are with a typical shipper or cooperative buying grapes or wines from a Hundred there Are some single Vineyard including the Clos Lune of the Tomb an a and the Clos  of the a go Surat these Are wines for the True Alsace Devo they arc reflecting the care and Pride that go into them and into the vineyards from which they come like most while alsatian wine should be drunk fairly Well they ran last Lour or five but it is Wise to look Lor the youngest Tan there is to Way to guaranty that an older Battle has not Beta lying next to a Radia Lur or two vintages in Alsace correspond More Cludy to those in Burgundy than they do to German vintages in the Iliili Rigau to thu inh one exception which was an excellent year in Assi was in by not in the most recent bids lube a Tine if nut up the standards of which  just As it was in Germany and in Burgundy both 1974 and 1373 were Good years in beyond it would be Well to skip the wine As Tou old Ouary 1978 the 5tar5 and stripes Pago is