The Domaine Schoffit Muscat Tradition 2023 is a dry, intensely perfumed Alsace white built on grapey aromatics rather than sweetness. Muscat from Alsace smells like fresh table grapes and tastes bone dry, and this 2023 makes that contrast its whole point.

The nose leads with crushed muscat grapes, elderflower and orange blossom, backed by white peach, lime zest and a faint touch of green herb. In the mouth the fruit stays bright and juicy — nashi pear, pink grapefruit, a little rosewater — with the perfume carrying right through the palate rather than fading after the first sniff.

Medium-bodied and dry, the Muscat Tradition has a light, almost weightless texture held together by clean citrus acidity. There is a gentle grip to the finish, faintly bitter in the way good Alsace whites often are, which stops the aromatics from turning sweet or soapy and leaves the mouth fresh.

Few whites handle difficult food this well. Pour it with green asparagus, prosciutto and melon, Vietnamese rice paper rolls, salt and pepper squid, or a Thai green curry where the chilli would flatten a heavier wine. It also works nicely on its own as an aperitif, well chilled.

Drink from now to 2028. Alsace Muscat is at its most expressive while the perfume is young, so there is little to gain from long cellaring.