Lemberger is an important varietal in Wuerttemberg. Its red wine, especially when mixed with Trollinger, is a popular local beverage. Not surprisingly, a circuit bicycle trail in the northwestern corner of the state is devoted to it, and this is the story of that trail.
The trail has history too. Technically starting in an area known as the Kraichgau (not to be confused with the smaller wine district known as Kraichgau in the Baden wine region, with which Wuerttemberg shares this area), it has been an agricultural area for a long, long time. Its name Kraichgau, is believed to derive from the Celtic word for loam. The loamy soils are good for vines. Additionally, this area, and indeed the trail itself, is dominated by the Heuchelberg, a massive ridge with multiple peaks. Its steep slopes provide good drainage, and maximize sunlight on the vines ranging up its southern exposures. Kleingartach, one of the wine villages on the slopes of the Heuchelberg, has presumably had vineyards ever since its donation to the Carolingian Lorsch Abbey in the eighth century. And this is the village where the trail began.
This trail provided nice contrasts of scenery on a roller coaster of a trail that went up and down, and up and down, the sides of the Heuchelberg. Starting in a small village, continuing into vineyards, and passing through woods, the trail would repeat this pattern with slight variations on the theme.
Instead of a village, the first stop was actually a small town: Eppingen, known as a “Half-Timbered Town”, for its many half-timbered houses. Indeed, these were some of the most intricate I had ever seen. The carving detail was amazing on some of them. Leaving Eppingen, instead of seeing vineyards when cycling along the northern edges of the Heuchelberg, it was mostly pastures or fields until just outside the village of Stetten.
Schwaigern was the next town after Eppingen, but the trail just skirted its edges and headed south, and uphill. Once finally on top of the Heuchelberg, the trail turned southwest. Upon breaking out of the woods, the vineyards began in earnest- a vast sea of them that covered the slopes, seemingly rolling down from the ridgelines near and far. It was hard not to stop to admire the view around each turn. A series of wine education panels began at this point, just above the vines, and one appropriately featured Lemberger. It continued along the trail for a distance, and rightly paid homage to Trollinger as well, Lemberger’s partner in a popular blended wine called simply enough “Trollinger mit Lemberger”.
The next destination is visible from on high. It is the village of Neipperg, another wine village. Nestled in a valley, with the Heuchelberg looking down on it, this village is also famous for its castle and wine-making count. Haberschlacht, another wine village lies nearby.
From the lower reaches of the valley up the sides of the Heuchelberg, the trail went from village to vineyards to woods again. Then the trail proceeded across the top of a high plateau, now a mixed used agricultural site, and a wonderful vantage point for taking in the surrounding area north and west. I enjoyed this relatively flat stretch of trail before heading (rather steeply) downhill. Back into Kleingartach, at the trail’s start/end point, I had a chance to view the Heuchelberg slopes outside town, and be grateful for the conditions that make wine-growing possible here, and the trail that allowed me to see them up close.
