We met this master distiller, Marcel Windholtz, on one of our visits to Alsace. In one of those extraordinary French, inter-related, wine marriages, which proves you should never say anything detrimental to one wine producer about another, we discovered that Marcel Windholtz is married to Jean Trimbach's sister, Laurence, and that Jean Trimbach is married to Marcel Windholtz's sister, Nicole. Hence, after a superb lunch at the Auberge de L'Ile with Jean and Nicole Trimbach, we set off to taste the wonderful Eaux de Vie produced by Marcel Windholtz.

Located on the outskirts of Ribeauville, in the heart of the Alsace vineyards, his tiny distillery is housed in a building no larger than a garden shed. From here he produces the most stunningly pure Eau de Vie that we have ever tasted, with great clarity and depth of flavour. He uses only the purest produce of the countryside;' wild raspberries from the Vosges mountains, fruits and berries from the hedgerows. The ingredients for his wonderful Marc de Gewurztraminer come, of course, from his brother-in-law.

When tasting the Framboise Sauvage, one imagines the intense bouquet of a puree of wild raspberries. The Coing, translated into quince, is perfumed and scented, while the more delicate Mirabelle Reserve has a nose of plum kernels.

Marcel has bottled our selection in half litres, an elegant and attractive presentation.