The vineyards of Alsace are situated between the Vosges and Rhine fault lines.

Approximately 50 million years ago, a tectonic incident - at first gradual and then of brutal force resulted in the formation of two splits which ran in a line from north to south. Thereafter these two fault lines were marked by the following three zones: the Vosges Mountains, the foothills and the Rhine plain.

The incredible diversity of top and sub soils in the Alsace wine region is in direct consequence of this tectonic activity. Alsace, as we know it today, evolved geographically evolved from this seismic episode, the results of which included subsequent movements of the earth, erosion and the deposits of stones both from the receding sea and from the water courses down the Vosges mountains.

No fewer than thirteen different types of soil may be individually distinguished within this remarkable region.