The Schoffit Muscat Rangen Grand Cru 2023 is a dry, high-toned Alsace white with the perfume of Muscat pulled tight by the volcanic ground of Rangen. Aromatic and precise rather than plush, it drinks more like a mineral white than a floral one.

Orange blossom, elderflower and white grape lead the aromatics, with green mandarin and a faint waft of wet stone underneath. Air brings out nectarine skin and a dusty, almost spicy note that keeps the flower side honest.

Rangen is one of the few Alsace grands crus built on hard volcanic rock rather than soil, and that shows in the shape of this Muscat: light-bodied, taut across the middle, with a chalky grip through the finish and no residual sweetness to soften the edges. Acidity is bright and citric, the fruit is concentrated without being weighty, and the aftertaste is long, dry and faintly smoky. Schoffit farms roughly 5.8 hectares in the cru, a small fraction of it planted to Muscat, so bottles are scarce.

Serve it cold with steamed asparagus, green salads with herbs, Vietnamese rice paper rolls or a plate of oysters. It also handles fresh goat's cheese and grilled prawns well, and makes an excellent aperitif on a warm afternoon.

Drinking beautifully now and through to around 2031, though the aromatics are at their most vivid in the first few years.