Rhine river cruise, Amsterdam and Basel: Shore excursion to Alsace vineyards, France

There are two ways to river cruise. One is to float about and let nothing trouble your brain, other than when to order a cold beer or look up from your book to spot a passing castle. Alternatively, you can exercise your neurons by using your cruise to learn more about history, European culture and the perplexing, always entertaining, habits of others.

Both these cruise methods have their attractions, but I've found a shore excursion on my Scenic Pearl journey between Amsterdam and Basel that satisfies both impulses. I'm promised a morning of indolent village-strolling and wine sipping, and yet it's clear that our guide Helene will feed our curiosity too. It's a short coach ride across the Rhine River from our dock at Kehl in Germany into the Alsace vineyards, but this vivacious Frenchwoman supplies informational nuggets that make me frown in pleasure.

"Inheritance law in Alsace says vineyards have to be divided equally among all children, so they become very small parcels of land over time," Helene comments as we skirt Strasbourg and head towards buxom green hills. "And now here is Ottrott village, associated with red wine. Pinot noir is the only red grape grown in Alsace."

I peer out the coach window at flamboyant flowerboxes and houses seemingly made of gingerbread – incidentally an Alsace specialty, laden with enough honey to satisfy Pooh bear. But never mind, because Helene is explaining about Alsace wine, which is the reason passengers have picked this excursion.

"Luckily the wine here is labelled with the grape name as in Australia, rather than the name of the grower or terroir as in other parts of France, which is so confusing!"

Our small group decants into Barr, whose weekend market smells of ripe cheese and roasting chickens. We're here to visit wine cellar Maison Klipfel, where the owner's son Olivier takes us among giant barrels, and patiently answers questions. The oldest wine in the cellar is a 1921 gewurztraminer in bottles cobwebbed as if by a fairy-tale curse.

Then we settle down for a wine tasting. First up is a riesling, which Olivier says is limestone-grown and best served with fish or seafood. "Like all wine tastings, we start with a dry wine and get progressively sweeter, otherwise you have sugar on your palate too early, which is hard to get rid of."