What I Learned
Wine has been produced in the Pfalz since Roman times. This is especially true around Speyer. Formerly the site of a small Roman fort, as it grew, so did its wine production. As witness to this local wine production, in 1867 an intact bottle of wine was found locally in the sarcophagus of a fourth century A.D. Roman official. It was the only one of ten (!) to have withstood the ravages of time. It is now on display in the State Historical Museum in Speyer.
Trail Name: Vom Rhein Zum Wein
Trail Type: Middle distance bicycle trail; almost exclusively paved, well maintained, and well-marked.
Length: total: 31 kilometers/19.25 miles
Convenient to: Speyer, Germany;
Marking: Profiles of Speyer cathedral and two cyclists in white, on a green rectangular background
The Kaiserstuhl (Emperor’s Seat or Chair), rises in dramatic isolation from the flatlands of the valley of the Rhine. This vine-covered promontory allegedly got its name from the actions there of an early Holy Roman Emperor. Its majestic appearance alone is reason enough for the name, in my opinion.
The Kaiserstuhl promontory overlooks former imperial holdings north, south, east and west. It contains two wine districts in the German wine region of Baden, the Tuniberg and the eponymous Kaiserstuhl, and it abuts two others. Additionally, in the distance, on the other side of the Rhine, lie the vineyards of Alsace, France. Wine is definitely king in this southwest corner of Germany!
What I Learned
The Kaiserstuhl is a wine district within the German wine region of Baden. With almost 4300 hectares (over 10,500 acres), it is the largest of all nine wine districts in Baden.
Trail Name: Radwege durch Weinland Baden: Kaiserstuhl Alternative (Bike Trails through Baden Wine-land: Kaiserstuhl Alternative [Route])
Trail Type: Mid-distance trail; almost exclusively paved, (two short sections, less than a half mile total, were hard-pack surfaces), well maintained, but no consistently specific markings for the route itself.
Length: total: 49 kilometers/30 miles
Convenient to: Freiburg, Germany
Marking: No trail marking specific to this trail, and it is at times on other named trails (like the Rheintal Radweg (with a green sign and white lettering) from Malterdingen to Koenigschaffhausen)
Continue reading Radweg Weinland Kaiserstuhl: Trail in a Nutshell
Rather than referring to the cost of the wine here (although some quality producers offer great Rheinterrassen wine at very reasonable prices), today’s post title refers to the Song of the Nibelungen, that epic poem of feasts with wine, hosted by powerful kings with brave knights, and a fearless slayer of dragons guarding vast treasures.
The poem (later adapted and set to music in Wagner’s Ring Cycle), tells of the life and death of the dragon-slaying hero Siegfried, and his relationship with the Burgundians. Much of the action takes place in and around the city of Worms “on the Rhine”, which is home to the court of the Burgundian king Gunther and his wife and queen Brunhild. (It is also now home to several sculptures of dragons, commemorating this facet of the poem.)
What I Learned:
Off all the German states (or Laende), Rheinland Pfalz has the most wine regions. And of all the German wine regions, the Rheinhessen is the biggest. On the left/west bank of the Rhine, between roughly Worms and Mainz, it extends away from the river to as far west as Alzey-Weinheim, itself about 25 kilometers from the Rhine. In total, Rheinhessen vines cover approximately 26,000 hectares/65,000 acres.
Trail Name: Rheinterrassen route
Trail Type: Long distance; almost exclusively paved, well maintained, but the route itself is not marked.
Length: total: 50.5 km/31.5 miles
Convenient to: Mainz or Worms, Germany
Marking: Dark green and lighter green lines, and silhouetted town skyline, on a white background.
FOUR wine districts, THREE wine regions, TWO rivers, and ONE valley – GO! It is all for the experiencing along Germany’s Taubertal on the wonderfully laid-out Wein Radreise Trail.
This long distance trail has six recommended stages (although I only biked stages 2, 3 and 4, from the famous Rothenburg ob der Tauber to Wertheim on the Main), and merges with other bike trails along the Tauber and Main Rivers, such as the Liebliches Taubertal, and the well-known Main Radweg. Combining these trails, you could easily spend a couple of weeks traversing much of the wine production areas of central Germany. Then, where the Main Bike Trail reaches the Rhine around Wiesbaden/Mainz, you could then follow part of the 800 mile-long Rhine Bike Trail either north or south… You get the picture: Germany can be a wine-loving cyclist’s paradise. Continue reading Three German Wine Regions By Bike
