I spent last weekend at the San Antonio New World Wine and Food Festival, which is basically a five-day gorge-fest against the backdrop of the beautiful San Antonio River in weather that can only be described as perfect. I was highly amused to receive a welcome gift from the San Antonio Convention and Visitor's Bureau that included Alka Selzer and Advil, as if to prepare us for impending stomachaches and hangovers at the festival.

On Thursday I went to a winemaker's dinner at Las Canarias, a restaurant on the river inside the beautiful old hotel La Mansion. Our winemaker was Jean Trimbach, a clean-cut, handsome Frenchman from Alsace who showcased a gorgeous selection of his family's cool-climate gems from Pinot Blanc to Pinot Noir. "My brother makes the wine, and I drink it," Jean joked when we asked about his role in the family business.

Trimbach has been making wine in Alsace, a French wine region bordering Germany that has changed hands between the two countries several times, since the seventeenth century. Though Trimbach isn't one of the biggest winemakers in Alsace, it's one of the region's most recognizable brands.

Read more about Trimbach wines after the jump.

I love getting a chance to sample several wines from the same winemaker, because you can get a better sense of the overall quality of the brand. All of the Trimbach wines we tried were delicious. I'm a big fan of cool-climate wines, which tend to be lower in alcohol with racy acidity, which makes them extremely food-friendly. My favorites from the dinner were a three-way tie. The Trimbach "Cuvee Frederic Emile" Riesling 2001, named after Jean's Great-Great-Grandfather, was bone-dry and at 7 years old still fully-structured, proof that well-made Rieslings can age well.

I also loved the Trimbach "Cuvee Des Seigneurs de Ribeaupierre" Gewurztraminer, which has an absolutely gorgeous bouquet, prompting one of my dinner companions to exclaim, "If this were a perfume, I'd wear it!" The Gewurtz tasted sweet, but Jean assured us there was no residual sugar, and we were simply tasting the perfumed bouquet.

Finally, though Trimbach is largely known for their whites and especially Riesling, I loved the Trimbach Pinot Noir Reserve Personelle, which was Pinot as Pinot should be: medium-bodied with a good nose of cherries and perfect tannins. Neither overripe nor overacidulated, it had the balance and finesse that makes the grape one of the world's greatest.

A lot of people get confused by French labels, and with good reason--just type "French wine label" into Google and you'll find plenty of decoders. It's easier to get past the confusion and fear when you have a few recommended brands in your back pocket, and I will happily recommend Trimbach as an excellent brand to seek out next time you venture into the French wine aisle.