Gallery February 2020
Monthly Archives: February 2020
Cold Winter Wandering
From one end of Baden to the other, there is a world of difference in weather and wines. From a relatively warm day, to a bone-chilling wet-cold one, all in the same week. From the broad Rhine River valley, to the narrow Tauber River valley. Such can be the extremes of weather and geography in the Baden wine region.
Baden’s Tauberfranken wine district is far to the north and east of most of the rest of the Baden region. It lies less than 20 miles (30 kilometers) southwest of Wuerzburg, in Franconia (Franken, in German). The town of Lauda-Koenigshofen, an important center in this district, is where the trail began. (Officially, it begins in the associated village of Beckstein, but parking was not as easy there.) Lauda-Koenigshofen lies on the west bank of the Tauber River, but in large part seems fairly divorced from the river. Skirting west of the old walled town center (well worth a quick visit), the trail avoided the river altogether and headed uphill into the vineyards.
Wine Notes: Baden’s Tauberfranken
What I Learned
A bit of the Baden wine region lies far north, with some of it in the German State of Bavaria! Baden’s Grosslage Tauberklinge extends north from around Assamstadt to the area around Homburg am Main. Much of this district lies along or quite near to the Tauber River. Other sectors lie in small valleys of minor Main River tributaries, or of tributaries to the Tauber River.
The Taubertal (Tauber (River) Valley) is a very diverse wine growing area. Following along the course of the river, upstream (south) to downstream (north), you find 3 regions (Franconia, Baden and Wuerttemberg) and 4 districts represented: Franconia’s Mainviereck District, Baden’s Tauberfranken District, Wuerttemberg’s Kocher-Jagst-Tauber District, and Franconia’s Maindreieck District. All this within about 120 miles of a fairly narrow river valley! The frequent district changes reflect the diverse soils and growing conditions in each region. Of course, these differences result in a variety of unique wines produced along the Tauber.
Tauberschwarzweg: Trail in a Nutshell
Trail Name: Tauberschwarzweg
Trail Type: Mid-distance circuit trail; well-maintained and about half is paved, the other surfaces are grass and earthen; marking on the trail is somewhat good, but a map is strongly advised.
Length: circa13 kilometers/8 miles (See comments below)
Convenient to: Wertheim, or Wuerzburg, Germany
Marking: The capital letter “D”
Warm Winter Wandering
Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall, a trail’s face changes with the seasons. While this is undoubtedly true for the Ihringer Winzerrunde West trail, even as I hiked it in early February, it seemed more a trail of the Spring, and for good reason: the Kaiserstuhl is consistently one of the warmest, if not the warmest area in Germany.
To be honest, I was not looking forward to seeing the trail’s winter face for a couple of reasons. First, the Ihringer Winzerrunde West trail has several inclines, as it passes through vineyards, which in addition to being sited on elevations formed by ancient lava flows, also has an extensive system of terraces throughout the area.
Wine Notes: Baden’s Kaiserstuhl
What I Learned
The Kaiserstuhl is a wine district within the German wine region of Baden. Baden has a large number of wine districts, and with almost 4300 hectares (over 10,500 acres), it is the largest of all nine wine districts in Baden.
This district is one of the warmest sites in Germany, with some of the highest average temperatures and the highest average hours of sunshine per year. In this district, the vines are planted mostly in terraces, mostly on south facing slopes of the Kaiserstuhl, maximizing exposure to the sun in this already sun-drenched (relatively speaking) district. Another interesting aspect of this district is its base. It is volcanic, as this whole area was once one giant volcano. A layer of loess lies on top of the remnants of the old volcanic lava, which seems to retain heat to an amazing degree. The cuts in the terraces reveal incredible depths of the light-colored loess layer.
Winzerrundweg West: Trail in a Nutshell
Trail Name: Winzerrundweg West
Trail Type: Short distance circuit; well maintained and almost exclusively paved, marking on the trail good, but not foolproof
Length: 9 kilometers / 5.6 miles
Convenient to: Breisach or Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany
Marking: Red rectangular signs with the trail name in white letters (See the featured photo above)