One of France’s finest wine-growing regions, and one of its least understood, is the northern district of Alsace, a hilly region bordering Germany with a populace that’s as comfortable speaking German as it is French. Moreover, the grape varieties of Alsace (almost all of them white) are also found in Germany, with riesling, gewurztraminer, and pinot gris at the top of the list, and pinot blanc, muscat, and sylvaner right behind. Germany occupied Alsace for nearly 90 years over several decades and wars, but the two wine cultures have different wine styles. Germany generally prefers to balance its naturally high acids with residual sugar, halting fermentations before all the sugars have been converted. Alsace prefers more of the dry approach. But both areas also make stylish off-dry wines. Alsace has traditionally treated these wines as accompaniments to one of France’s most interesting regional cuisines. To that end, it has historically …