Alsace advice wanted.

TIA. Just gathering info.

I’m this close to posting on the Alsace portion of our fall trip.

I don’t know what you’re looking for but here are a couple of things I wished I had known prior to my trip a few years ago.

  1. The region is not huge. I would consider basing out of a village like Ribeauville/Riquewihr and making day trips from there. Colmar isn’t bad but parking near the city centre is a pain in the ass and/or super expensive. Plus, I actually preferred the restaurants in Riquewihr despite it being very touristy.

  2. Restaurants I tried and recommend:

Riquewihr - Au Trotthus (fantastic)
La Grappe d’Or (charming)

Ribeauville - Restaurant aux Trois Chateaux (great, simple lunch)

Colmar - Bartholdi Restaurant

  1. Reservations are needed for a few places, but very few.

Work on getting reservations ahead of time for Zind Humbrecht, Domains Ostertag, and Trimbach, but most places, like Hugel, Rolly Gassmann, etc, are relatively informal. Just drop on in.

This is very good advice.

It’s been several years since I’ve been to Alsace, but we’ve stayed a few times at Hotel Kanzel. It’s conveniently located on the Wine Route in Beblenheim, close to Riquewihr and Ribeauville. The units are small apartments. The staff will drive you to and pick you up from local restaurants in the evening, even as far as Illhaeusern.

The reason I mention Illhaeusern is because you should consider L’Auberge de l’Ill if you want a really special meal. Yes, it’s quite expensive, but it deserves its 3 stars (at least when I went - it could have gone downhill).

On the lower end, consider Wistub du Sommelier in Bergheim. There are actually several decent wistubs, but this is the best bet.

As noted, there are a lot of stop in tasting rooms. Several do not have a set pouring list and will simply ask you what you would like to try, so having some knowledge of the wineries’ products in advance can be helpful.

Definitely make appointments at Zind-Humbrecht and Trimbach (but see Alan’s wonderful travelogue about Trimbach visits). Enough people have told me they had a similar experience to mine (and apparently Alan’s) at Weinbach such that it may not be worth a visit if your time is limited.

It’s a beautiful area. You just have to go in knowing you will not be drinking much red wine.

Alsace is fantastic.

We have been twice and based in Eguisheim both times. It is probably the quaintest town in all of Alsace.

While we didn’t make it to Auberge de l’Ill (it was a family trip and nobody else was interested in high end dining), a good friend who is a reliable source for restaurant advice, swears by Auberge de l’Ill and claims it is worthy of all 3 stars.

La Taverne Alsacienne, in Ingersheim is a great little Michelin Bib Gourmand with all the local classics. Recommended.

Was there September and stayed at a winery in Colmar and it came with parking, very convenient to get in and out to visit the wine villages.
https://vins-karcher.com/en/self-catering-accommodation/
Colmar was a great base and is a great walking town in the city center where we stayed.
Had dinners at Les Bateliers Review of Les Bateliers | Colmar, France - AFAR and Les Racines Restaurant les racines / Restaurant / Colmar this was right around the corner from our apartment.

Had very nice visit at Weinbach, Trimbach was just the tasting room due to harvest and hit the Hugel tasting room in Riquewihr on a Sunday morning.
Drove up into the vineyards in Hunawihr (Rosacker) and Kyasersberg ( Schlossberg). In Hunawihr check out the cemetery at the church, has a lot of very familiar Alsace family wine names.

This was a great tip from Paul Willenberg

For food or lodging?

We had lunch. There are two restaurants, the 2* main, and the Winstub. We were able to get a reservation for the Winstub on pretty short notice, and really enjoyed it. I then spent some time with the wine list of the main room and vowed to come back. It is, however, in North Alsace.

We will be there in the first week of August, this thread has been very helpful. We are staying in Bergheim, any restaurant advice on the wine trail or nearby in the black forrest region will be appreciated.