Category Archives: Germany

Germany, Wines

Wine Notes: Baden’s Breisgau District

What I Learned:

The Breisgau area of the Baden Region of Germany has some unique topography, both natural and manmade. From the plain, you see ridgeline after ridgeline, each rising higher as it moves away from the Rhine, and toward the upper reaches of the Black Forest to the east.

The vine-covered hills, usually on the first or second ridgelines after the plain, tend to be small, but steep. Man has worked around this by terracing many of them over time. This terracing provides plenty of opportunity to notice the primarily loess and sandy soils that predominate in this area.

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Germany, Hiking, Nutshell

Breisgauer Weinweg: Trail in a Nutshell

Name: Breisgauer Weinweg

Trail type: Long distance, multi-day trail; mostly hard-packed gravel or paved in built up areas and some vineyards, well maintained and well-marked.

Length: 99.1 km/61.5 miles

Convenient to: Freiburg, Germany

Marking: Green grapes on red diamond on white background

Breisgauer Weinweg Trail Sign
Breisgauer Weinweg Trail Sign

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Germany, Hiking

Panoramaweg: Volkach’s Wine Trail with a View

Online research can produce some great finds, and this trail was one of them. Searching for a day hike in the Wuerzburg area: something around 15-25 kilometers, wine-themed, and through well-known, scenic territory, turned up nothing for me. A major disappointment because Wuerzburg is one of my favorite cities, with its architectural gems, unparalleled setting on the river, and a well-established wine culture, that naturally attracts good food. So I turned my queries to the other side of the Maindreieck, to the “wine island” and Volkach area.

My hits included the Panoramaweg. Not a title implying a wine-themed trail, but that was exactly what it was: a trail through several of the more famous vineyards in the Volkach area, wine-tasting opportunities, and a wine learning trail along the way. And, as advertised: this trail had magnificent panoramas throughout the trail.

Barges on the Main
Barges on the Main

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Germany, Wines

Wine Notes: Franconia’s Maindreieck

What I Learned:

Along the Main River in Franconia (Franken, in German), there are three wine districts of good repute: Maindreieck, Mainviereck, and the Steigerwald, set slightly off the river, but still enjoying a climate mild enough to grow grapes. This post focuses on the Maindreieck district only.

The Maindreieck is a triangle of land surrounded on three sides by the Main River. The Main is a tributary to the Rhine. The river makes three dramatic curves close to the heart of Franconia, forming this “triangle” (dreieck) as a paragon of viticulture in south central Germany. The most important and undoubtedly best known town for wine culture in this area is Wuerzburg.

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Germany, Hiking, Nutshell

Volkach’s Panoramaweg: Trail in a Nutshell

Trail Name: Panoramaweg

Trail Type: A mid-distance trail or circuit; some medium-difficulty ascents; almost exclusively hard-packed gravel or paved; well maintained and fairly well marked.

Length: totals:

Circuit: 15 kilometers/9.3 miles

Trail: 20 kilometers/12.5 miles

Convenient to: Wuerzburg, Franconia, Germany

Marking: Orange background with a white stylized eye

Panoramaweg Trail Sign
Panoramaweg Trail Sign

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Germany, Hiking

Hiking Felsengarten Reds

After completing the Felsengartenkellerei (FGK) Riesling Wanderweg, I felt compelled to even out the experience by completing an FGK red wine-themed trail, and a red wine tasting. Because the red routes are shorter than the Riesling trail, I decided to combine the Burgunder and the Trollinger trails, two of several red wine-themed trails that the FGK offers. (The others include the delectably-named Ruhlaenderweg, the Lembergerweg, the Samtrotweg, and the Dornfelderweg.)

 

High above the Neckar
High above the Neckar

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Germany, Wines

Wine Notes: Germany’s Wuerttembergisch Unterland – Part II

What I Learned:

About 20 miles north of Stuttgart, Germany, there is a distinctive grape growing area, lining the Neckar River as it flows north past the towns of Mundelsheim, Hessigheim and Besigheim. An unusual geological feature here is a fractured, limestone cliff with rock outcroppings that tower above the Neckar. Known as the Felsengarten, this site is favored by local rock climbers, as well as wine lovers who delight in visiting the vineyards surrounding the cliff, and the local wine cooperative, the Felsengartenkellerei, at the base of the cliff.

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Germany, Hiking, Nutshell

Burgunder- and Trollinger-Weg: Two Trails in a Nutshell

Trail Names: Burgunderweg and Trollingerweg

Trail Type: Short distance hiking circuits laid out by the Felsengartenkellerei (FGK) winery; almost exclusively paved, well maintained, and mostly well marked.

Length:

Burgunderweg total: 5.5 km/3.5 miles

Trollingerweg total: 8.5 km/5.25 miles

Convenient to: Stuttgart, Wuerttemberg, Germany

Marking: Red colored lizard and trail name written on square signs with white background with the word “Felsengartenkellerei” written on the edge.

Trollingerweg Signage
Trollingerweg Signage

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Germany, Hiking

Felsengartenkellerei Riesling Wanderweg

In an unusual move, the local wine cooperative, the Felsengartenkellerei (FGK) in Hessigheim, has mapped several trails which pass through the vineyards supplying the grapes. I decided to hike some of the trails, and began much as you would in a wine tasting – with a white.

The Riesling Wanderweg trail had some great things going for it: a variety of landscapes to pass through, from riverside and fields, to villages and vineyards, with a bit of forest here and there. It was a clear, sunny and relatively warm winter day, with birds singing as I set out.

Riesling Wanderweg Trail
Riesling Wanderweg Trail

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Germany, Wines

Wine Notes: Germany’s Wuerttembergisch Unterland – Part I

What I Learned:

About 20 miles north of Stuttgart, Germany, there is a distinctive grape growing area. An unusual geological feature here is a fractured, limestone cliff with rock outcroppings that towers above the Neckar River. Known as the Felsengarten, this site is favored by local rock climbers, as well as wine lovers who delight in visiting the vineyards surrounding the cliff, and the local wine cooperative at the base of the cliff.

Continue reading Wine Notes: Germany’s Wuerttembergisch Unterland – Part I →