Original subtitles

♪♪

-So if you know me, you know I love a good workout.

And from the looks of things, this one is gonna be intense.

Towering over Strasbourg, the Cathedral of Notre Dame

is a testament to this city's historic power and might.

Taking over 400 years to complete,

this magnificent Gothic cathedral

held the title of being

the tallest building in the world

for over two centuries.

And I'm feeling it.

Here we go.

Ooh, we're so high. [ Chuckles ]

Ah!

That had to be the best workout in France.

But the view is totally worth it.

From up here, the geography tells the whole story.

To the west, you have the Vosges Mountains.

And to the east, just past the Rhine,

you have the Black Forest of Germany.

So this is frontier land. It's borderland.

One side, France. The other side, Germany.

It's no wonder things can get complicated.

I'm Eva Longoria, and I'm a serious Francophile.

Santé!

Over the past 20 years,

my career as an actor has brought me to France

time and again.

It's my home away from home.

But those trips were more about work

than joie de vivre.

Now I want something deeper.

This is going to be an adventure!

So I'm setting out to really experience France...

-This is Cabernet Sauvignon. -Oh, that's my favorite!

...to savor its world-celebrated cuisine

and explore the country's rich history.

Vive la France! [ Laughs ]

Ahh, Alsace,

France's crown jewel in the northeast.

-It's a very special, very unique place in France.

-Over the centuries,

the French have claimed it as their own...

[ Gasps ]

...but so have the Germans.

This is clearly German influence.

-No. -No. [ Laughs ]

And that tug of war has created a cultural conundrum.

Ahh!

-My parents changed three or four times nationality

without moving. -Is it French?

Gewürztraminer. -You have to sneeze it

more than pronounce it. -Is it German?

So what are we making? -[ Speaks a global language ]

That does not sound French.

In a place where borders shift and identities blur,

perhaps the truth is found on the plate.

That is fantastic.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

I'm starting my Alsace journey

on the left bank of the mighty Rhine

in its biggest city, Strasbourg.

This capital has been a powerhouse since Roman times

because of its strategic setting on the river.

Hello. -Hello.

-How are you?

Coralie Andt, a proud Strassburger and restauranteur

has promised to give me a taste

of what makes the city so special.

You know, it's my first time in Alsace.

-Oh, very nice to be here with you.

-Never been in this region. -Yes.

-We are on the borderline between France and Germany.

It's a very special, very unique place in France.

Let me show you around. Let's go.

♪♪

-This is so beautiful. I feel like I'm in a fairy tale.

Just from the architecture alone,

I'd think I was in Germany.

And there's good reason for that.

-In 1871 was the annexation of Alsace by the German.

-An annexation? -Yes.

And we change, uh, two times --

we are German, and after France.

-Wow, so you guys went back and forth

and back and forth? -Yes.

-It's a complicated history.

First, Germany took Alsace in the Franco-Prussian War.

Then France won it back after World War I,

only to lose it again during the Second World War.

Since 1945, it's been part of France.

-Can you guess, Eva,

what French institution was born in Alsace?

-A French institution that's born here?

-I give you a hint. -Okay.

To brew -- brasser, in French.

-Brasser... A brasserie?

-Yes, exactly! -A brasserie?

-Yes. -Brasserie comes from Alsace?

-Exactly. From Alsace.

-Like most people,

when I think France, I think wine.

But given Strasbourg is only a stone's throw from Germany,

it makes sense that they brew beer too.

Oh, my God.

With its ornate statues,

Le Tigre echoes the glamour of the grand brasseries in Paris,

but has a more down-to-earth vibe.

-Okay, well, let's taste it.

-Santé! -Santé!

Ohh, that's lovely.

-It's very fresh. -So light.

A little bit -- a note of florals.

and very important -- the head of the beer.

-The head. -Like two fingers.

-Oh, it must be two fingers? -Ah, yes.

-Okay.

What exactly is the tarte flambée?

'Cause it looks like a pizza.

-Yeah. No, it's not like a pizza.

-Uh-huh. -Onions, bacon,

and it will be cooked.

-Legend has it that this treat began

as a tasty way to test the heat

in communal bread ovens.

So this is the sign of a good tarte flambée?

-Yes, exactly.

-Okay. I'm Mexican, so I eat it like a taco.

[ Laughter ]

Mmm!

Oh, you're right, that's not a pizza.

-No, no, it's Alsatian cuisine. -That is amazing.

Those onions, and the pork is super savory with that cheese.

The ingredients are all so simple, hearty, and local.

Combined with a beer,

it really is the best bar snack ever.

Très bon! Très délicieux! Merci beaucoup.

That hop to the brasserie

definitely teased my appetite for more.

Lucky for me, my guide's got another delicious idea

up her sleeve.

-This one is my restaurant. -This looks so traditional.

Coralie has been running the family winstub

for over 10 years.

These are your regulars? -Ah, yes. Yes.

-They originally started as a place

where winegrowers would sell their surplus

to thirsty locals.

-Now it's time to drink white wine.

-White wine? -Alsatian white wine.

-Okay. -It's a Riesling.

It's a dry, mineral... -Oh, I love that.

-...elegant... -Oh, that's right up my alley.

-Winstub -- it's only a place to drink wine.

-Okay. -When we want to say

"more wine," you must eat a little bit.

-A little. -And if you eat a little bit,

you drink more. -You drink more. [ Chuckles ]

-Voilà! -This is my first Alsatian wine.

I'm very excited. Merci beaucoup.

This is amazing. It's so dry, I love it.

The food here is all very traditional

for the region. -It's a tarte à l'oignon.

-Wow! That's like an onion soufflé with a crust.

C'est délicieux. -This one

is a very traditional salad.

It's a mixed salad -- -No, wait. Okay. Hold --

Attends, attends. -[ Laughter ]

-Did you just call this a salad?

-Yes. -No.

-No, because --

[ Laughter ]

-This is clearly not a salad.

-In Alsace, when you think about salad,

you never -- it's never green. -It's never lettuce?

-Never, like, green. -Oh, okay. [ Laughs ]

-It's only sausages, cheese, pork.

Oh, we love it.

-Mm! Oh, I love that.

Clearly, no garden salads

in the northern climes of Alsace then.

But there's another dish that really wouldn't

look out of place to me in Munich.

This is clearly German influence, no?

-No, no. -Ah! Oh!

It's not -- No. -No.

No. No. [ Laughs ]

-It's not fully French and not fully German.

It's Alsatian. -Okay.

That touched a nerve.

I don't even know how to attack this plate.

-You must to have five different kind of thing.

-I have to have all five? -Three sausages

and two different kinds of bacon.

[ Laughter, indistinct chatter ]

-Mmm! Wow.

Oh, that's not the sauerkraut I know.

-Yeah. -This is so delicate.

So how do you make it here?

-We cook the sauerkraut with Riesling.

-Oh, with wine? -Yes.

-A typical German sauerkraut would never contain wine,

but when in France, why not?

Yes, yes, I'll take more.

Winstubs, brasseries...

Strasburg's complicated history is loaded into every bite.

The food combines German comfort

with French joie de vivre,

turning it into something deliciously Alsatian.

♪♪

-This river used to be the lifeblood of the area.

It was used for transportation, fishing, trading.

This is one of the few riverboats that are left,

but the legacy of the river lives on in other ways.

Flowing from the Jura mountains northwards to the Rhine

is the River Ill.

And I'm headed to a restaurant

that's been on its banks for 150 years.

♪♪

-Hi, Eva. -[ Chuckles ]

-Bonjour, Eva. -Bonjour.

Ça va? -Ça va très bien, très bien.

-Do you receive all the guests like this?

-No. Not -- Only you. -[ Both laugh ]

-Marc Haeberlin -- that's him in the hat --

is the fourth generation of his family

to run the L'Auberge de l'Ill.

How did this all begin?

-This place was destroyed? -Completely destroyed.

-All of Alsace became occupied territory

when Hitler annexed the region to Germany in June 1940.

After that, the Alsatians became German nationals

and remained that way until the Battle for Liberation

in 1944.

Oh.

Since then, the Auberge has earned

three Michelin stars.

Marc's invited me into the kitchen

for a taste of what brings everyone here.

What do you think it is about this place

that makes it a destination restaurant?

-So many people come here from all over the world,

and they come also to eat traditional dish.

One of the dish I have still on the menu

my father created almost 60 years ago.

-What is this?

[ Gasps ]

Frog legs!

Marc's father's recipe only uses the most tender part

of the hind legs.

Wow, I'm so excited.

I've never had French frog legs. -[ Chuckles ]

-But I had these growing up.

My dad would make these all the time.

But we would eat it like chicken.

Like, off -- off the leg.

-It's good. -Yeah.

-It's also good fried.

-Marc and I could clearly talk frog legs all day long,

but there's a sauce to make.

-Well, here, we pour a little bit fish stock.

-Mm. It smells so good.

Butter, garlic wine... Can't go wrong.

Complicated reductions, multiple steps --

this is the kind of cooking I associate with France.

Oh, and have I mentioned the fish mousse?

It's made with pike eggs and cream.

Wow, that's a lot of cream.

Which is then piped into ramekins

with the frog meat in the center.

And then it goes in the oven? -It's going in the oven.

-Did you learn in this kitchen with your father?

-As a child, yes.

And after, I did hotel school in Strasbourg.

Each time I came home,

my grandmother gave me a little bit money.

But when I was working in Germany, she said,

"I give you no more money."

I want not my money goes to Germany

because the Second World War. -[ Both chuckle ]

-Grandma's grudge is understandable.

And I wonder if that's why

the food here is so firmly French.

Not a German sausage in sight.

-And I wait for -- -We let it rest?

-Just a little bit rest. -Shh. Let it rest.

-It's going down a little bit. -Shh.

[ Whispers ] It's a soufflé.

-I try to keep one or two recipes like this one

of my father,

because I think it's a part of a history

of the restaurant. -Yeah.

-We have to keep it.

[ Indistinct chatter ]

Voilà, la mousseline de grenouille.

-This is really a masterpiece.

Oh, my gosh.

Mmm! Wow.

That's such an interesting combination

of the fish with the frog legs.

It's like a love letter to the river.

-Thank you. Yes. -[ Chuckles ]

This really is French cooking at its most traditional.

And perhaps it's no surprise

to find such a culinary taking of sides.

This area was France

and then it was Germany, and then it was France.

-My parents changed three or four times nationality.

-Without moving? -Without moving.

German, French -- this is the double culture

of the Alsace. -Yeah.

-Second World War, my uncle was 17 years old

in the German army,

and my father was in the French army.

-So the year that you were born determined your nationality,

and that determined... -In this time.

-...what side you had to fight on?

-Yes, they have not -- it was not voluntary.

-No choice? -They had no choice.

-While Marc's father was fighting for France,

his uncle was one of the 130,000 Alsatians

conscripted to fight for Germany.

Threatened with death if they didn't fight,

but accused of collaboration if they did,

their plight was tragic

and there's even a special name for them.

What does mal--

Malgré-Nous means the people who was in the German army,

who wants not to go to the German army.

And they were forced to fight for Germany.

But against your will.

-They fought against their will?

-Yes. -Oh, my gosh.

-It was very hard in this period,

and after the war also.

-It feels good to know

that despite the turbulent currents of history,

Marc and his family remain rooted here,

serving their beautiful food beside their beloved river.

[ Birds chirping ]

♪♪

-I am high up in the Vosges Mountains,

cheese making country,

and back in the day there were so many producers

that they had their own route -- Route du Fromage.

It was a dirt road connecting farm to farm.

Nowadays, the road is more permanent,

but still climbs to 4,000 feet

in the Ballon des Vosges National Park.

Here the locals have a reputation

for hosting weary travelers.

Bonjour!

Christophe Schickel has run the Ferme Auberge de Huss

since he took it over from his parents

three years ago.

Oh, my God. Bonjour, mes amis. Bonjour, mes amis.

Now, this is very modern.

I used to milk a cow comme ça,

avec des mains.

[ Both laugh ]

I don't want to.

[ Cow moos ]

All that rich, high-protein, high-fat milk

is just perfect for making cheese.

Christophe has invited me to help with the latest batch.

-[ Cow moos ] -On y va!

-Oh, my God, this is so heavy.

Ah!

[ Both chuckle ]

The house cheese is called le Käs,

which means 'the cheese' in the Alsatian dialect.

It starts by heating the milk to 86°F

and then adding rennet to help it solidify.

-[ Bell rings ] -Hopp! Hopp!

-While the pot works its magic,

I'm free to wander the farm.

-Allez!

-Christophe's father André

might have retired three years ago,

but he's still got the pipes for the job.

-Hopp, hopp, hopp!

-[ Laughs ]

He reminds me of my dad. -[ Laughs ]

-André is right -- it is special here,

up in the clouds, far from the cities and crowds,

even borders.

There's a sense that time has stopped.

But I hope not literally,

because we've got cheese to make.

Christophe cuts the curds.

The larger the slices, the more moist and creamy

the final cheese.

[ Chuckles ]

The cheese dictates the pace.

Farmhouse inns up here

are famous for more than cheese.

They're also known for serving lunch.

Every day, the Auberge welcomes hikers, bikers,

even stray Americans.

[ All cheer ]

It's a real feast.

There's a vegetable soup and Alsatian meat torte,

a potato dish laced with bacon,

and of course, the Auberge's very own cheese.

Mmm!

Oh, my God, it's so different.

This one's creamier.

C'est -- c'est -- Comment dit-on ?

And this one's a little...

a little different texture.

So if it's younger, it's more -- it's crumblier.

Mm!

[ All singing in a global language ]

And up here, the tension between Germany and France

that's determined so much of Alsace's history

seems remote.

I love him!

Maybe it's because of the geography,

but harmony over identity is the priority.

And I don't know about you, but I'm all for it.

♪♪

♪♪

-Hello! -Hello! Hello, Eva.

Nice to meet you. -Nice to meet you.

-Very nice to meet you. -How are you?

-I'm fine, thank you. -I'm so happy to be here.

This is beautiful. Where are we?

-It's a Jewish bridge? -Jewish bridge. Absolutely.

-I'm back in Strasbourg, meeting up with Dan Leclaire,

a prominent member of the Jewish community,

to learn about their history in Alsace.

-They would have to leave the city?

-Yeah. -They weren't allowed

to live inside the walls? -Yeah.

-Yeah.

Strasbourg has a sizable Jewish population

since at least the 11th century.

Dan's invited me to help him prepare the ritual meal

that welcomes Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath.

-It's a little bit difficult to make kosher wine because --

Mm! [ Sniffs ] Smell. -Uh-huh. [ Sniffs ]

-Yeah. It's kosher. [ Sniffs ] That's perfect.

[ Both laugh ]

-Dan's signature Shabbat dish is a kosher version

of paté en croute,

or paté baked in a pastry shell.

-Here I have chicken.

-Paté is often made with cream,

but to adhere to Jewish dietary law,

Dan has a workaround.

Soy cream? Why soy cream?

...for the Jewish kitchen.

Philosophically, it's something very sad,

very wrong. -Yeah.

Beautiful!

So why are we doing this today if Shabbat's tomorrow?

-We can't cook in Shabbat.

It's time for family, for study the Torah,

for go to the synagogue.

-Now we're gonna fill it?

-We can, uh... -Put it in the oven?

-Put it in the oven.

-And finally, one of the most important elements

of the Shabbat meal.

-We make Challah bread, a Jewish bread,

every week. -Uh-huh.

Oh, wow. That's tough.

-Put your fingers like this and -- and roll.

Yeah. Very good, very good. Perfect, perfect.

-Okay.

-Like this. Yeah.

Yeah! Wow. Incredible.

-Ahh!

Oh, my God, I can't believe I just did that.

-This is the best Challah bread.

-Yay!

Dan is about one of 16,000 Jews

celebrating Shabbat here tomorrow.

But it's been a long road back

from almost complete obliteration by the Nazis

during World War II.

So I'm looking for something very specific.

Ah, here it is. It's called a Stolperstein.

It's a stumbling stone.

They are these brass plates

that are put into the sidewalks in Strasbourg,

and at first they blend in,

but once you notice them, they're everywhere.

This one says, "Here lived Edwin Heimann,

born 1899, refugee."

He was deported to the internment camp Reval.

And he died May 20th, 1944.

So each plaque is placed in front of the last known home

of a Holocaust victim before they were taken away.

And there's something quite powerful about them,

[Voice breaking] because...

...we're not in a museum, we're just on a street corner,

and they make you stop and pause

and you read the name, you bow down

and you're remembering that this was a life.

With every recipe, every encounter,

I'm beginning to understand more

about the Jewish experience here in Alsace...

...and I'm hoping Shabbat dinner

will fill in more of the picture.

-Hello. Shabbat shalom, Eva. -Shabbat shalom.

-Shabbat shalom. -Shabbat shalom.

-Shabbat shalom.

-Je veux te présenter... -Bonjour. Je suis Eva.

Dan's invited one special guest he wants me to meet.

-Merci beaucoup.

-Simone Polak is one of the oldest living survivors

of the Holocaust in Alsace.

After the German invasion, Simone's family,

like other Jewish Alsatians,

was forced to flee.

First, they went to Gevingey in the free zone,

but in 1944 they were arrested and sent to Drancy,

an internment camp.

Simone's mother and brother were among the 900,000 Jews

who perished on arrival at Auschwitz.

Simone's survival really is a triumph,

and it makes this weekly gathering

far more poignant.

-And now it's the Kiddush time

for the sanctification. -The toast.

-The toast. But not drink right now.

-Don't drink. I won't drink. Thank you for telling me.

[ Laughter ]

-Amen. -Amen.

-Oh! Wow!

-This is yours. -This one's mine.

A good Challah should be golden on the outside

and fluffy on the inside.

Is that a good sound? -Yeah. Good sound.

[ Laughter ]

-This is so good.

[ Inaudible ]

[ Indistinct chatter ]

Okay. [ Gasps ] Wow.

Dan's kosher paté en croute is a real showstopper.

That's beautiful with the pistachio.

-With the pistach-- with the pistachio.

[ Laughter, indistinct chatter ]

-Wow. Mm! That's amazing. Bravo!

Not that it was a competition, but my --

but my Challah won. [ Laughs ] -Bravo, Eva!

C'était très bon!

-Thank you very much.

♪♪

♪♪

-Merci!

Only in Strasbourg can you be in such a historic place

eating a Kugelhopf,

while across town, they're debating

the future of Europe.

Since 1992, the European Parliament,

the legislative body of the European Union,

has called this city home.

And when you have

so many influential people passing through,

well, you better know how to feed them.

Strasbourg boasts

an impressive eight Michelin-starred restaurants.

Although the woods outside town might seem an odd place

to find the newest rising star on the scene.

Bonjour. -Bonjour.

-Good morning. How are you?

-You're welcome. Nice. And you?

-I'm good. -[ Chuckles ]

[ Birds chirping ]

I'm here to meet Jeanne Satori,

one half of the team behind de:ja,

a one-Michelin-star restaurant

rewriting the rules of Alsatian gastronomy.

This place looks magical. What is this?

-It's the forest where I came every morning

for the foraging for the restaurant.

-Oh, that's so cool.

So then everything that you find here in the forest

inspires the dishes? -Yeah, exactly.

-Oxalis?

-It's quite acidic. -Can I taste it?

-Yeah, you can. -Okay.

What is it? -It's strong. [ Laughs ]

-Oh, yeah. Very acidic.

Almost like... -Yeah.

-...very strong lemon.

-Here we can have some ground ivy.

-Ground ivy? -Yeah.

-You can eat ground ivy? -If you want, you can test.

Yeah, you're just like my father.

My father did this. -[ Laughs ]

-He would just pull things from the ground

and go, "Eat it. Try it."

-But it's maybe more bitter than the --

-It tastes like a vegetable.

It's definitely like a palate cleanser.

-Yeah. I like to forage a lot of plants in the forest

because it permits me to find

the poetry we have in the restaurant.

-Are you coming with us?

Jeanne is taking me to the restaurant,

which is in the Quartier de l'Orangerie,

a known stomping ground of politicians.

-There's a lot of embassies,

and really close from here,

you have the European Parliament.

-Does that give you a very international crowd?

-Yeah, it's really interesting. -I don't know.

If I were serving politicians,

I think that might be... -[ Laughs ]

-...a little crazy. [ Laughs ]

Wow, this is so beautiful. -Thank you.

-Bonjour. -Bonjour.

-Je suis Eva. Enchantée. -David. Enchanté. Bienvenue.

-Yes, we brought you gifts. -Merci beaucoup.

-David Degoursy,

Jeanne's partner and the chef at de:ja,

knows that politicking starts with the stomach.

[ Gasps ] Are we eating already?

-So this is traditional Alsatian food?

-Exactly, yes. -But in a snack?

-Yes. -Is it an amuse-bouche?

-Yes, it's an amuse-bouche. -I love amuse-bouches.

[ Laughter ]

Seriously, this looks nothing like

any of the other traditional Alsatian dishes

I've tried.

Ohh. -The idea is to eat everything

in one bite. -In one bite?

-Yes, exactly. -Oh, my gosh.

-If you can.

-The first is a riff on a tartare.

The raw beef is still there,

but it's piled on a meringue with a surprise.

Wow. The fish eggs are still popping in my mouth.

That was so good. Wow. -Thank you.

-The next delicacy is a [Inaudible],

a fried potato filled with cream cheese.

This is not one bite. -You can.

[ Laughter ]

-Mmm!

Mmm! Oh, my God.

-Thanks.

-That is amazing.

It's like -- it's like the cool cousin

of a French fry.

Oh, my God. And that filling.

Wow. I could have 10 of these. -[ Chuckles ]

-David's amuse-bouches have me curious to find out

what he'll improvise from our foraged finds.

So is this the normal, um, routine?

Is that you -- she forages, she brings it in here,

and then you create something? -Yes. Exactly. Yes.

-So what are we making? -[ Speaks a global language ]

-That does not sound French.

It's Alsace and in German, We have a lot of pasta also.

And this one is very particular for me,

because my grandmother makes that

when we are young. -Like a dumpling?

-Exactly.

-David's spatula is a Germanic ravioli

filled with a very French ingredient --

snail,

and our foraged oxalis.

Oh, my God, that smells good.

-So... -Now you fold it?

Oh, just like that. -Just like that.

-Oh, my gosh.

That's so pretty. -[ Chuckles ]

-He then pairs it with a quick-cooking local perch.

[ Gasps ] Oh, my God.

It cooks so fast.

♪♪

-So then you have some eggplant, garlic.

-A garlic puree? -Yes, exactly. Garlic puree.

-Finally, an acacia and asparagus reduction

brings it together.

Oh, it's like a foam. -Exactly.

-That is so beautiful.

So what should I eat first?

-You can start with -- -A little bit of everything?

-Yes, with the fish. Yes. -Okay.

-Mmm! That fish is perfectly cooked.

-Thank you. -Mmm!

That is like a ravioli. -Mm-hmm.

-Very special ravioli.

This is such a creative mix.

You have fish, but then you have escargot

and you have pasta.

What's the philosophy behind this restaurant?

It's also unmistakably Alsatian,

finding rapprochement between French flair

and German simplicity in an effortless way.

It seems no accident that were just moments

from the European Parliament,

because I can't think of a more perfect spot

for politicians to break bread.

♪♪

♪♪

-The legendary Alsace Wine Route

passes through some of the most fairytale villages

you could ever imagine.

Alsace wines can often feel overlooked,

but brimming with character and charm.

One of the biggest producers in the region

has a prime location on the easternmost slopes

of the Vosges Mountains.

I'm here to meet Séverine,

the seventh generation of her family

to run this vineyard.

-Hello, Eva. -Hello!

-Welcome. -Thank you.

-So nice to see you. -Nice to see you.

I'm so excited to try wines. -Yes.

You're in the right place.

-How do you say your last name?

-Schlum-bear-jay.

-Schlum-ber-jay, not berger?

-No, because my family fights very hard

to remain French. -[ Both laugh ]

-So don't say "berger." Say "ber-jay."

-"Bergé." -Got it. Okay.

-The vineyard is the largest privately owned estate

in Alsace by far.

So the working conditions are very, very hard.

It's a lot of hand work.

We can't use a lot of machine over here.

When it's steep and hard to work,

you have a super nice result,

because the vines are super strong

and they have to go deep to get their food and --

-They have to fight hard. -Yeah. Yeah.

-Wow. I feel like we're very high up now.

-We are at about 300 meters.

-It's so steep right here. -[ Chuckles ]

This is a cliff. We are on -- -It is.

-Like, it drops down right here.

We're just really high.

-We're just gonna get a glass of wine

to make you feel better. -Yeah.

Séverine isn't just dragging me up here to test me.

She wants me to see the most important part

of the vineyard.

Wahh! -[ Chuckles ]

-Just that part is really scary.

This view is definitely worth the vertigo.

-[ Chuckles ] Yeah.

-But we're not just here for the vista.

-This one is Gewürztraminer. -Guritz--

-Gewürztraminer. -Gu-ritz-stramin-air.

-I'm sorry, you have to sneeze it

more than pronounce it.

-Sneeze -- sneeze it. -[ Laughs ]

-Mmm! Wow.

That is lovely. -You see the acidity behind?

So it's not oversweet. -Yes.

But it's not all sweet either. -No, no.

-There's other things.

-This [Inaudible] has volcanic terroir.

The volcanic brings a lot of smokiness

and minerality to the wine. -I took a quiz one time

that tells you what wine you are,

and it says I was an Alsatian Gewürztraminer.

-Really? -Yes!

And I had no idea what it was and I couldn't say it.

So what does that mean? That I'm sweet?

-You are sweet, you are spice...

-I'm complicated? -...and you are energetic.

No, I wouldn't say complicated.

-Oh, I'm not complicated. -[ Both laugh ]

I'm a Gewürztraminer.

Besides the distinctive landscape,

there's another important element

that impacts the flavor of the wines --

time. -We literally wait 15 years

to use Grand Cru grapes into Grand Cru wine.

So those grapes are going to come into

Grand Cru production

when my kids are going to be in charge.

-Oh! -So I benefit

from my parents' shop,

and whatever I do is for my children.

-Yeah. -That's the transmission.

-So, you have to plan

so far in advance. -Yeah.

-Séverine's custodial mindset is impressive,

but the best place to understand what this means

is the cellar.

-Let me show you the family collection of wine.

-[ Gasps ] Wow! -[ Chuckles ]

-This is beautiful!

-We keep all the precious vintages,

and one of them is especially precious.

Here...

It is a 1945 vintage.

-1945? -Yes.

-Wait, you guys made wine in 1945?

-Well, apparently they did, and they were right to,

because it's an amazing vintage.

-So the year that the war ended? -Ended.

It's the reward after so much suffering.

-Actually producing a wine that year,

that is a miracle.

That's a miracle in itself. -And I think

it can give a lot of hope nowadays that we need.

-Wow, that is really special.

[ Church bells ringing, birds chirping]

I've realized that Alsatians

are like their rugged hillside vines --

uniquely adept at creating joy out of hardship and struggle.

And that joy is on full display

at Séverine's local barbecue in Guebwiller.

Bonjour!

What is this called again? -Fleischschnecke.

"Fleisch" means meat

and "schnecke" is the snail.

-The snail. -It's literally meat

rolled in pasta.

-That is fantastic.

What I found about Alsatian food is it's so unique to you guys.

-I always describe the Alsatian as

they have the hardworking spirit

of the German,

but with the French spirit...

We are Alsatian and French, and Alsatian first...

if I have a life threat on it!

[ Laughs ]

[ Speaks French ]

-Alsace was the place I knew the least about.

Its food, its history

has been shaped as much by its neighbors as by itself.

Here people have always walked a fine line between worlds,

between identities -- French, German,

somehow both and neither.

And that, I think, is the secret to their success.

Santé!

♪♪