At what point in my studies do I crossover into full on nerd-alert territory? Is it when I spend 30 minutes talking to the guy working the Trader Joe’s wine aisle to get his take on the bottles I pulled? Maybe it’s when I open a bottle just to taste for flavor profiling and give the rest to my neighbor (pulling corks and making friends like a boss over here). Oh, no no no…I’ve got it, it’s when I listen to 8, EIGHT!!!!, podcasts for 6 hours in the car during a 12 hour work day. Yep, that’s it. It is officially official.

One of said podcast covered the Alsace region of France, a region I happened to pull a cork on this week and let me tell you, I plan to pull many more. Alsace is a region with a unique culture due to a changing border between Germany and France throughout history. This history leads to interesting cultural traits (people speak French, German and their own Alsatian) and the northern location leads to some of the best cool weather white wines you can find in the world. Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc are all grown but the overwhelming acreage belongs to Riesling. Before you turn your nose up at the thought of Riesling being far too sweet take a look at this overview. I made the rookie mistake of purchasing a Pinot Blanc before studying up on the region (still incredibly good), but you better believe the next bottle I buy will be a Riesling from Alsace.

Featured Wine: Fleurelle, Pinot Blanc 2012 Alsace France, $24.95 (but on 5 cent sale so two bottles for $25.00), dry with super high acidity and a strong minerality, paired perfectly with the fish we had for dinner