Trail Name: Schilcherkellerweg (SKW)
Trail Type: A mid-distance circuit trail; fairly well-maintained, partly paved, some grassy or slightly rougher surfaces, and the rest is hard-packed surface; marking on the trail is good, most of the time.
Length:
Total – 10.5 kilometers/6.2 miles
Convenient to: Stainz, Deutschlandsberg, or Graz, Austria
Marking: Signs, or simply marks (on trees or poles) of blue and yellow horizontal stripes
I immediately resolved to visit the village of Vignale Monferrato, and wander its vineyards, on my premier trip to the Monferrato district in northern Italy. I first saw the vineyards and the village while hiking in 2016 through the Malvasia vines of nearby Casorzo. Rounding a prominence, I spied distant vineyards circling a steep hill capped by a compact village. Capping the village itself is an impressive parish church, with the most expansive view imaginable of the Monferrato from its side-yard.
It took a while, but I finally got there in late May of 2019. (Little did I know then that I would not return to Italy for a little over two years now.) But the wait then was worth it, as the experience of the village and the hike was fantastic. The food and wine were outstanding of course, this being the Piedmont.
What I Learned
Monferrato has a long tradition of wine-making, pre-dating even the Romans. As the famous Roman naturalist, Pliny the Elder noted, the Romans greatly appreciated the wine coming from the Muscat grape cultivated in the Monferrato as a varietal more resistant to cold weather.
The rise of Christianity and establishment of monastic organizations ensured that even after the fall of the Roman Empire, and especially after the barbarian invasions, the production of wine would continue in the Monferrato up until today.
Trail Name: Tra Valli e Cascine (AKA Sentiero 732)
Trail Type: short-distance hiking circuit; marking on the trail is fairly good, and consistent; once out of town, the trail surface is mostly gravel over hard packed earth, with a grassy stretch for about two kilometers/a bit over a mile.
Length:
Total – 9.7 kilometers/6 miles
Convenient to: Casale Monferrato, Alessandria, Piedmont, Italy
Marking:
Trail signage: Vertical red-white-red bars imprinted with the number 732 in black; alternatively, trail markers are red and white horizontal bars.
Trail Signage photos: See featured photo above, and trail marking photo below:
Readers may have noticed that there are many hiking trails through vineyards in the whole of the Rhine River Valley, in Germany, France and Switzerland. However, many of the vineyards in the Rhine River Valley, are not necessarily close to the river, especially since the valley is especially wide where the river flows between France and Germany. Hence Alsatian vineyards in France, and the Baden vineyards in Germany can be miles away from the river.
But it is a very different picture (and view) indeed, when hiking or biking through the northern Rheingau or southern Mittelrhein wine regions. Previous hikes through the Rheingau (on the east/right bank of the Rhine) on the fabulous Rheingauer RieslingPfad (see here, and the photo below), left me wanting to see more, and from a different perspective. I began with the southern-most vine growing area on the west/left bank of the Rhine, where the Reblausweg Trail provides nice views of both the Rheingau and Mittelrhein vineyards just across the river.
What I Learned
The Mittelrhein (Middle Rhine) is famous for its dozens of castle ruins, towering cliffs, and dramatic oxbow bends along the course of the Rhine through this section of it. The Upper Middle Rhine is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. It begins in Koblenz, and continues to Bingen.
This also defines the wine region known as the Mittelrhein. Unlike other wine regions on the Rhine, this region covers both banks of the river (beginning north of Lorchhausen, which is part of the Rheingau region). Many areas of the Upper Middle Rhine do not produce wine: the topography and geology just aren’t suitable or practicable, even for growing other crops. That just makes the vineyards along this section of the Rhine even more esteemed.
Trail Name: Reblausweg (Nr 13)
Trail Type: Short distance circuit; well-maintained and mostly paved or hard-packed earthen trail, marking on the trail is mostly good, but not specific to this trail
Length:
Total – 7.8 kilometers/miles
Convenient to: Bingen, or Koblenz, Germany
Marking:
Nothing specific to the Reblausweg trail, but directional signs, and marking for the Panoramaweg trail (which this trail partly follows), are both helpful.
