Trail Name: Rieslingweg
Trail Type: Short distance circuit trail; well-maintained and almost exclusively paved, very good marking on the trail
Length:
Total – 7.1 kilometers/4.4 miles
Convenient to: Baden-Baden, Germany
Marking: Green grapes with a green leaf on a white (sometimes yellow) background
While it might not be true wine, monkeys do consume, quite deliberately, fermented fruit juice found in the wild.
A theme of monkeys and wine drew me to a hike in the Affental, not far from Baden-Baden, Germany. A possible translation of Affen-tal, is Monkey Valley. Wine from this area is duly bottled with a monkey embossing the front of the bottle. I had often wondered about this somewhat incongruous mascot, and a visit to the local cooperative, Affentaler Winzer, provided an opportunity to taste the local wines, and learn more about the viticultural history and practices of the area. The short hike gave me an opportunity to wander through the vineyards of Affental.
What I Learned
Monkey Valley, or Affental, in German, has a long history of wine making. Located just south of Baden-Baden, this corner of Baden, Germany long attracted and encouraged monastic foundations. As is often the case, it was medieval religious who established the viticulture of the region, as they needed communion wine. In this case, the 13th century Cistercians from the Lichtenthaler Monastery of Baden-Baden planted Pinot Noir vines in this area of steep slopes with good exposure to the sun.
The practice of viticulture has continued ever since. In 1908, local vintners created the Affentaler Winzer, a cooperative winery. This cooperative focused on red wine production. Although other cooperatives were also in Eisental, Affentaler Winzer has since incorporated them into its cooperative. Affentaler wine has stood out, literally, since 1949, as the Affental Winzer red wine bottles have a raised metal plaquette of a monkey on them.
Trail Name: Rotweinpfad
Trail Type: Short distance circuit trail; well-maintained and almost exclusively paved, good marking on the trail.
Length:
Total – 3.8 kilometers/2.3 miles
Convenient to: Baden-Baden, Germany
Marking:
Purple grapes with a green leaves on a white (or yellow) background
If you have never seen the Baroque architecture of southern Germany, then you are missing a treat. The extravagance of the forms, the flamboyance of the colors, are not usually found in nature, which is what made such an interesting juxtaposition on this winter hike.
The trail, entitled Wein Barock, presumably intended as its highlights the pilgrimage basilica of Birnau, and the vineyards surrounding it. Equally as impressive to me, was the scenic beauty of the Swiss Alps, and Lake Constance, also enjoyed from this trail.
This trail is set entirely in the township of Uhldingen-Muehlhofen, made up of the villages of Unteruhldingen, Oberuhldingen, and Muehlhofen, which progress respectively, from the lake front to the hills. The circuit officially begins in Oberuhldingen, proceeding from its homey center, and quickly comes to the surrounding countryside.
What I Learned
Germany’s Baden wine region contains a district on the shores of Lake Constance, or Bodensee, as it is called in German. The lake itself has two distinct parts: the Bodensee, and the Untersee. Both have vineyards which fall under Grosslage Sonnenufer. This post comments on the Kirchhalde slope by Uhldingen, on the Bodensee itself.
The lake and the northern shoreline’s southern exposure to sun help to warm this area, making it a garden spot for Germany. Vineyards are tucked among the villages and religious foundations, along with fruit trees and fields of vegetables, grains and flowers. In this district, vineyards grow primarily in gravelly, moraine clay soils. The Kirchhalde slope, with a nice south, south-westerly exposure, is fairly pronounced, but overall, the elevation is less than 500 meters.
Trail Name: Wein-Barock
Trail Type: Mid-distance circuit trail; almost exclusively paved, well maintained, but the marking along the route, while excellent, is not trail specific. (See the Itinerary below for specific itinerary points.)
Length: total: 10 kilometers/ 6 miles
Convenient to: Konstanz, and Friedrichshafen, Germany
Marking:
Yellow rectangular signs with black lettering, indicating direction to major itinerary points. (Not trail specific)
When the itinerant musicians of Mackenbach, in the Pfalz, crested the ridge from the northwest, they beheld the town of Freinsheim below. They announced their arrival with lively music, letting the town know they had arrived. Over the next couple of days, they would play, for coins, wine and food. Freinsheim, one of the northern most wine villages on the Deutsche Weinstrasse, has named this section of vineyard the “Musikanten-Buckel”, or the hump of hill where the musicians began to play. Freinsheim is also one of many villages along the Deutsche Weinstrasse that has several festivals throughout the year. Two of them involve “wine wandering”, which is how I came be in the village.
Traditionally, the January wine wandering trail follows mostly along an established trail called the Musikantenbuckel Wanderweg. But every year, on the last weekend of January, the trail is identified as the Rotweinwanderung (Red wine wandering). So, on a cold, dark and grey winter afternoon, I, and hundreds of other people, dressed warmly, with sturdy waterproof boots, set off along the trail, which starts in the village.
