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Germany, Hiking

A Rheingau and Middle Rhine Trail

 

The German state of Hesse is home to one of the most famous wine regions in the world for Riesling wine: the Rheingau. Here, hectares of terraced vineyards looming above the middle Rhine River arguably form the world’s most iconic riverine vineyard site.

Two trails named in honor of the Rheingau’s most famous product, Riesling wine, pass through these vineyards. One is a hiking trail, and the other is a cycling route. Both start together in Kaub, and follow the Rhine upriver. Both are over 60 kilometers long, the hiking trail actually being 91 kilometers in length. Not having enough time to hike the whole trail, and not knowing when I would get back to the area, I decided to cover half of the Rheingau trails’ area by hiking the northern half of the hiking trail, and then by cycling the southern half of the bicycle route.

Kaub from the Water

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Germany, Wines

Wine Notes: Rheingau I

 

What I Learned

According to many experts, Riesling wine reaches its pinnacle in the Rheingau. Here, the vintners have been making this wine, almost exclusively this wine, for hundreds of years. Locals as well as buyers from around the world eagerly await the resulting products each year. And from the modest-sized family wineries to the large international concerns, each winery will offer a range of Riesling wines, in styles ranging from dry to off-dry to sweet.

The most basic Riesling will be a Qualitaetswein. Next up the quality scale is a Kabinett Riesling.

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Germany, Hiking, Nutshell

Rheingauer Riesling Pfad: Trail in a Nutshell

 

Trail Name:  Rheingauer Riesling Pfad

Trail Type: A long-distance hiking trail; well-maintained and with a variety of trail surfaces; marking on the trail very good.

Length:

Total – 91 kilometers/55.5 miles

Segment: about 30 kilometers/about 19 miles

Convenient to: Mainz, Wiesbaden, Germany

Marking: Yellow (or white) wine glass with a crown, on a (usually) green background

Rheingauer Riesling Pfad

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Biking, Germany, Switzerland

Bodensee Biking

 

The Bodensee (Lake Constance, in English) means fantastic cycling! Any wine-drinking fan of biking excursions in Europe should definitely cycle the Bodensee Radweg (Lake Constance Bike Trail) to experience the trail that German, Austrian and Swiss nationals have raved about for years, and to experience the great regional wines as well!

Following the shores of this lake, mostly on dedicated biking paths, the 260-kilometer-long Bodensee Radweg passes in and out of three countries: Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and through or along vineyards in Germany and Switzerland. (There is even one to see just outside Bregenz, in the Vorarlberg region of Austria.) It is a circuit, which means you can begin at any convenient spot along the trail.

On the Bodensee Radweg

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Germany, Switzerland, Wines

Wine Notes: Bodensee’s Untersee

 

What I Learned

The Bodensee wine district lies in a  true garden spot for Germany, Switzerland and Austria, where fruit trees, truck gardens, and vineyards are tucked among small villages and ancient religious foundations.

It is located on Lake Constance. It is known in the German-speaking world as the Bodensee, and fondly referred to as the “German Sea” because it is shared between Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The lake itself has three distinct parts: the Obersee , the Untersee, and the Seerhein. There are vineyards along much of all of it.

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Biking, Germany, Nutshell, Switzerland

Bodensee Radweg: Trail in a Nutshell

 

Trail Name:  Bodensee Radweg (Lake Constance Bike Trail) – Untersee segment

Trail Type: long-distance, multinational cycling circuit; very well-maintained and almost exclusively paved, with excellent marking along the trail

Length:

Total – Full Bodensee Radweg is 270 kilometers/167.75 miles

Segment: Untersee circuit only is 72 kilometers/44.75 miles

Convenient to: Konstanz, Germany/Kreuzlingen, Switzerland

Marking: Stylized black stick figure on bike with blue rear wheel, on a white background Trail Description:

Bodensee Radweg Signage

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Hiking, Italy

Hiking Through Schioppettino

 

Winding down the side of the mountain, from a basilica through the vines to the wines of Schioppettino di Prepotto, is what this hike was all about in a nutshell.

But the sum of a hike is more than its trailheads. In this case, the trailheads themselves were impressive. The first, (or possibly the second if following the trail uphill) is the Sanctuary of Castelmonte. Visible for miles from below, with views for miles from up top, the site has deep layers of history and archeology as far back as the Iron Age. But today’s sanctuary has served as a prominent pilgrimage church for this corner of the Province of Udine in northeastern Italy since about the sixth century.  However, what is visible now dates to even later than that. Architectural magnificence aside, the site itself is dramatically sited and gorgeous.

The Basilica at Castelmonte

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Italy, Wines

Wine Notes: Friuli Colli Orientali

 

What I Learned

Collio and Friuli Colli Orientali are considered the best among ten zones in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of northeastern Italy, due to hills, for good drainage and optimal sun, and proximity to cold Alpine air (for good ventilation), tempered by Adriatic influences. (From Cormons, you can sometimes see the Adriatic.) Here, the soils are limestone overlaid with marl and sandstone. Some of the best growing areas in Friuli Colli Orientali are around Corno di Rosazzo.

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Hiking, Italy, Nutshell

CAI 748: Trail in a Nutshell

 

Trail Name: CAI 748 (AKA: Vigneti dei Colli Orientali)

Trail Type:

Mid-distance trail; surfaces from asphalt to rock to dirt, well-maintained in places, but not throughout; the route is fairly well marked.

Length: Total: 11 kilometers/ 6.8 miles

Convenient to: Cividale del Friuli, Italy

Marking: Red and white rectangles, with 748 in black superimposed

See featured photo above, and…

Alternate Trail Signage

 

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