ORBIS city intelligence

Buying in Kaysersberg: Grand Cru, Fruit Spirit and Blown Glass

Wine and spirit account for six of the eight doors here, but two houses work in glass and in sugar. They are what turns a tasting trip into a shopping one. Decide which cru you want before arriving, because the growers here hold different slopes and will not send you elsewhere.

Domaine Kirrenbourg: biodynamic Schlossberg, and Brand as well S1

Schlossberg is worked by two growers in this village. Kirrenbourg farms it biodynamically and takes Brand too, so this is the cellar for tasting one cru against another.

Ask which parcels are open on the day. Alsace cellars pour what is already broached, and a call ahead will tell you whether the comparison you want is possible.

Bernard Haas & Fils: the same slope, made differently S2

Haas works Riesling from Schlossberg. Tasting it beside the Kirrenbourg bottling is the reason to visit both rather than choosing between them.

Ask how each vintage was handled before deciding, because two growers on one slope can produce wines that share almost nothing in the glass.

Distillerie Miclo: arrive with space in the boot S3

Alsatian fruit eau-de-vie is the category visitors tend to overlook while queueing for Riesling. Miclo was founded by Gilbert Miclo, the son of a wine merchant, and works fruit spirits alongside liqueurs.

Ask which are distilled here rather than bought in. Check your carrier's rules on alcohol strength as well as volume, since eau-de-vie sits above what some airlines allow in the cabin.

Verrerie d'Art de Kaysersberg: the one door where making happens in front of you S4

Glass tableware and lighting are blown here by hand. In a village of cellars this is the stop that shows you a craft rather than pouring you a sample.

Ask when the furnace is working if watching matters to you. Ask about packing before buying anything blown thin. Glass and a car boot full of bottles travel badly together.

La Table Alsacienne: bredele bought from the maker S5

Bredele are the small Alsatian Christmas biscuits, and buying them here rather than from a market stall gets you a different biscuit. Take the fruit jams as well, since they are made in the same kitchen.

Ask which varieties keep longest if you are carrying them far. Ask about tin or box packing, since bredele break easily once they have been loose in a bag for a day.

Domaine Fritsch farms organically and makes a Grand Cru orange wine, and Vins Meyer-Krumb works six family hectares across Mambourg and Schoenenbourg. Both are based at Sigolsheim, a few kilometres away, so confirm which address you are driving to. Ask at Vins d'Alsace Dietrich Jean et Fils for the Grand Cru Kaefferkopf gewurztraminer, which is the cru the others here do not hold.