The Alsace Wine Road

The Alsace Wine Route is a unique destination where landscapes of plains, mountains and vineyards blend together. Lovers of culture and heritage can only be delighted by the discovery of typical villages all along this wine route. A tourist destination and a real geological treasure, we tell you more about the Alsace Wine Route and the terroirs from which Bestheim wines come.

A historic and unique Wine Route in France

The Alsace Wine Route was inaugurated in 1953. It is one of the oldest wine routes in France. It stretches over more than 170 kilometres, from the north to the south of the Alsace plain, between the Vosges Mountains and the Black Forest, passing through 70 wine-growing villages reputed to be the most beautiful in the region.

Throughout the year, it offers its visitors, whether novices or connoisseurs, numerous activities related to wine and vineyards. From April to October, the villages take it in turns to organise wine and grape harvest festivals.

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, many villages come alive and organise Christmas Markets.

In Alsace, there are more than 4,500 wine estates on 15,600 hectares of vineyards: independent winegrowers, cooperative cellars, wine merchants, etc. are present. The vineyards of Alsace are divided into 5 territories:

• The "Heart of Alsace", between Mont Sainte-Odile and the Haut-Kœnigsbourg castle.
• "Land and Wines in the Land of Colmar",
• Vineyard of the Pays de Wissembourg in the north of the Alsace region,
• Vineyard of Strasbourg,
• The "South Alsace Wine Route", around Thann and Guebwiller.

The Bestheim terroirs on the Alsace Wine Route

Among the 5 territories of the Alsace Wine Route, we are present around Colmar, more precisely around Bennwihr but also on the "South Alsace Wine Route" near Westhalten.

The Alsatian vineyard is rich in its 51 Grands Crus and countless other local appellations or lieux-dits. We produce wines from the following Grands Crus and terroirs:

• The Grand Cru Mambourg, on the heights of the commune of Sigolsheim, is south-facing on 61.85 ha which extend over almost 1.3 km on the hillside. It benefits from an optimal period of sunshine. Its calcimagnesic soil develops on limestone conglomerates and marls of tertiary covering of the hills.
• The Grand Cru Furstentum is located in the Kaysersberg valley, in the communes of Kientzheim and Sigolsheim, where it covers 30.50 hectares.
• The Grand Cru Schlossberg is the oldest of the Grands Crus of Alsace classified since 1975. Its 80.28 hectares are south-facing. They overlook the Weiss valley, linking the town of Kientzheim to the medieval castle of Kaysersberg.
• The Grand Cru Kaefferkopf extends over 71.65 hectares between 230 and 350 metres above sea level in the commune of Ammerschwihr. A multifaceted terroir, the Grand Cru Kaefferkopf is distinguished by the diversity of its geology and its blended wines.
• The Grand Cru Zinnkoepflé "Mont du Soleil" is located in the communes of Westhalten and Soultzmatt, on a limestone-sandstone terroir. With a south-western and south-eastern exposure, between 200 and 440 metres above sea level, it is the highest Grand Cru in Alsace.
• The village of Heiligenstein (and the surrounding area), where the famous Klevener de Heiligenstein is harvested, produces Savagnin rose.
• The Rebgarten, a small coquettishly maintained vineyard (hence its name "the garden of the vines"), nestled against the first houses of Bennwihr.
• The Roemerberg ("the hill to the Romans"), located to the east of the village of Bennwihr. Its name comes from the fact that this land is crossed by an ancient Roman road.
• The Altenbourg, situated between 225 and 250 m above sea level, lies just below the boundary of the Grand Cru Furstentum. The wines from this terroir are harvested in the Kientzheim-Kaysersberg valley, at the foot of the hills beneath the Vosges mountains.
• The Strangenberg, a locality located in the commune of Westhalten in the heart of the Noble Valley of Alsace wines.

3 Bestheim shops on the Alsace Wine Route

The richness of the terroirs and soils present in Alsace allow us to offer you a range of fine and complex wines, meeting your expectations as closely as possible and in order to fill you with pleasure!

Come and discover Bestheim wines in one of our 3 Alsatian boutiques, all located on this tourist route.

• In Bennwihr, south of Ribeauvillé, Bestheim welcomes you to its fiefdom, where the Bestheim cooperative cellar was created. At the shop, you can discover all year round the richness of our wine ranges (Sylvaner, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Muscat, Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Noir, blends...) and Crémants d'Alsace.
• A little further west, the Kaysersberg Vignoble boutique is located in the heart of one of the most beautiful villages in France. Wasn't Kaysersberg designated as a French Favourite Village in 2017? Make the most of your sightseeing visit to this village, a jewel of the Wine Route, which can be visited both on the town side (historical circuit, Château, Albert Schweitzer Museum) and on the vineyard side, to come and taste a grape variety or a Crémant in our cellar located in the historical centre of the village!
• The Bestheim shop in Westhalten is the southernmost shop of our cooperative cellar, between Colmar and Guebwiller. Here too, in the heart of the Vallée Noble, you can discover and taste our vintages (our Grands Crus, our Vendanges Tardives, our Sélections de Grains Nobles, our Crémants d'Alsace, our organic wines, as well as all our creations)!