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.
