Long Weekend in Alsace

Somewhere in March last year, we decided with friends to spend the June‘s long weekend in Alsace and so I had the chance to explore this charming French region for the first time. As you may know, I love wine as I love both road trips and France and so I was truly excited about our upcoming trip, realizing how lucky we are to live so close to some of the nicest wine regions of France such as Champagne, Bourgogne or Alsace that are just a few hours‘ drive from Brussels and therefore doable as weekend trips.

Saturday morning we left Brussels and drove to Ingersheim, where we stayed in AirBnB apartment made from a former winemaker house (I am sorry but I do not remember the name anymore). This was our base for discovering the northern part of this region. In 3 days we managed to visit some of the most beautiful French villages such as Riquewihr, Eguisheim, Hunavihr, and Colmar while enjoying the drive through beautiful green valleys landscape and of course, doing some wine tasting too. 🙂

Last 12 months were quite busy for me and that is why I have only managed to finalize this post and pictures only now. I hope it will give you some idea about this region in case you plan to check it out one day – let me know! 🙂

Alsace wines

The wine region of Alsace lies on the border between France and Germany and so it’s often a mix of these two cultures in what concerns the language, cuisine but also the wine production. Alsace produces primarily white wine and is known especially for its Riesling, Pinot Gris or Gewürztraminer wines which are also the main grape varieties to be found in the region, or even the sparkling wines referred to as Crémant d’Alsace. From the red wines, Pinot Noir is typical for Alsace.

Places we visited during our long weekend in Alsace

Riquewihr is one of the most beautiful villages in France with well preserved historical architecture and candy-colored houses. The city center is still surrounded by medieval fortifications and inside you will find a mixture of restaurants, cafe’s, gourmet shops and wine caves. As it was a bit rainy that day, we mainly spent the time tasting some wine here in Jung Gustave & fils.

The other day the sun showed up and we drove to Olschwihr to visit the domain of  Francois Schmitt where we had booked a visit with wine tasting in advance. We sat at a large table listening to the owner talking about their domain and biodynamic practices which was very interesting. We also tasted their main wines and didn’t leave the place with empty hands. 😉 

Eguisheim is probably the most typical Alsatian village. This medieval town surrounded by vineyards is formed by narrow cobblestone streets, colored half-timbered houses and rich floral decoration. We had a nice long walk here, enjoying the sunny day and a very blue sky. It was like walking in a fairytale! We also had lunch including some local desert.

Hunawihr is another medieval village situated on the wine route. This is where you’ll find a beautiful church in the middle of the vineyards, so a must stop for every photographer, right? ?

Later in the evening, we took a walk from Ingersheim through the vineyards and visited the neighborhood village Niedermorschihr. Such a lovely and colorful architecture and it also seemed there were some interesting restaurants. Noted for the next time then!

We spent the last day first tasting Jean Geiler’s wines. It was here where we bought not just a few bottles, but directly some boxes. I enjoyed about 80% of their wines and I think the price-quality ratio here is very good. Later I discovered their wines also in Delhaize in Belgium! 🙂

Then we continued to Colmar which is a must-see town when in Alsace! I have heard a lot about it and it had been on my list for quite a few years already. We had a nice lunch on a terrace and a walk through its city center, admiring the colorful half-timbered houses. For me, the historical center of the town is way too much crowded by tourists, although it is beautiful to see. If you go, check out the interesting medieval houses such as Koïfhus, Pfister, or Maison des Têtes and have a walk along the canal through the Quai de la Poissonnerie which is also called Little Venice.

Time to stop talking and share some pictures instead, what do you think? 🙂 Enjoy!

So this is it. Have you been to Alsace or are you planning to visit the region? If you have any other tips, please share them in the comments, they might be useful for others. 😉

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