Süd (Rouffach–Thann)

The southern Alsace lies in the Haut-Rhin département and extends from Pfaffenheim and Rouffach via Westhalten, Soultzmatt and Guebwiller to Thann at the mouth of the Thur valley. The vines stand at the foot of the Vosges. The Vallée Noble around Soultzmatt forms a wine landscape of its own; Guebwiller has four Grands Crus (Kitterlé, Kessler, Saering and Spiegel), and at the southern end lies the Rangen near Thann, Alsace's southernmost and steepest Grand Cru.

The Vosges hold back rain from the west; Colmar is among the driest places in France. In the south, foehn effects and plenty of sunshine shape the climate. The soils are exceptionally varied: volcanic rock and greywacke at the Rangen, sandstone at Guebwiller, limestone at the Zinnkoepflé and the Vorbourg near Rouffach.

Riesling and Gewürztraminer define the Grands Crus, with Pinot Gris as a complement, and Pinot Noir is grown for red wines and Crémant. Rieslings from the Rangen are smoky and mineral, Gewürztraminers from the Zinnkoepflé dense and spicy. Domaines Schlumberger in Guebwiller and Zind-Humbrecht, which farms the Clos Saint-Urbain at the Rangen, are among the well-known names.