Palatial Alsace

The most recent tasting of the Royal Household Wine Committee in the cellars of Buckingham Palace was devoted to Alsace, and was one of the most enjoyable I can remember. These were wines submitted by wine suppliers with a Royal Warrant (Berry Bros, Corney & Barrow and Justerini & Brooks), together with a few other approved wine merchants such as Lea & Sandeman, Tanners of Shrewsbury and Walker Wodehouse Wines.

Wines were, as usual, tasted blind and in three groups: Rieslings, Gewzurztraminers (a particularly impressive selection) and a mixture of Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and, unknown to us, Zind Humbrecht's...