Tag Archives: Germany

Climbing the Moselle Terraces

 

The Weinwetterweg circuit, if nothing else, promotes a new appreciation for viticultural workers on the Moselle. The “Terraced Moselle” is the name of wine district where the lower length of the Moselle starts, and serious terraces begin. This end of the Moselle twists and turns through the slate cliffs and outcroppings that line its sides. As it approaches the junction with the Rhine at Coblenz, the seemingly impossible-to-sustain vineyards appear between narrow river frontage, and high rocky promontories. This is the most spectacular part of the Moselle, and is well worth both a visit and a hike.

Hatzenport and the Rabenlay

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Wine Notes: Lower Moselle/Terrassenmosel

 

 What I Learned:

Germany’s important (and oldest) wine-producing Moselle River region has three wine districts along it – the Upper, Middle and Lower – beginning at the French-Luxembourg border, and continuing to Koblenz downriver. This post focuses on the Lower Moselle (Untermosel), also known as the Terraced Moselle (Terrassenmosel).

This district, north of Zell (with the famous black cat emblem), past Cochem and its imposing Reichsburg Castle, to the river junction at Koblenz with the Rhine, boasts some of the steepest vineyards in the world. It is home to the Calmont in Bremm, which has almost a 65-degree incline! Hence the need for the narrow terraces which dominate the landscape in the vine-bearing cliffs and steep hillsides of this district. In the village of Hatzenport, three named vineyard areas, the Kirchberg, the Stolzenberg and the Burg Bischofstein, are among some of the steepest vineyards in the district.

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WeinWetterWeg: Trail in a Nutshell

 

Trail Name: Hatzenport WeinWetterWeg

Trail Type: Mid-distance circuit; well-maintained, varied trail surfaces from rock, to scree, to grass and tarmac; excellent signage along the trail.

Length:

Total – 12 kilometers/ 7.5 miles

Convenient to: Coblenz, Cochem, Germany

Marking: A white rabbit and grapes, with directional arrow diagrams

WeinWetterWeg Signage

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Winter in Sommerhausen

 

The “Sommer” in Sommerhausen means summer in German, but there were no signs of it the day I was there. Dark, windy and spitting rain, as is normal in the winter here, it was a good day to follow the Weinsbergweg, the town’s trail devoted to its wines, along the slopes lining the Main River, about 8 miles south of Wuerzburg.

Town Center, Sommerhausen

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Wine Notes: Franconia’s Maindreieck

 

What I Learned

Franconia (Franken, in German) is one of Germany’s 13 wine regions. Within this region there are three districts. Two of the three follow along the Main, a peaceful, beautifully winding river that ultimately flows into the Rhine by Frankfurt. Three consecutive bends form a huge triangle of land, and the wine district along the river in this area is known as the Maindreieck (Main Triangle).

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Weinbergsweg: Trail in a Nutshell

 

Trail Name:  Weinsbergweg (incorporating the shorter educational Wein-Kulturweg) Sommerhausen

Trail Type: Short distance circuit; well-maintained and almost exclusively paved, (or with very hard-packed earthen surfaces), and with excellent marking throughout the trail.

Length: Total – 6 kilometers/ 3.75 miles

Convenient to: Wuerzburg

Marking: Snail, and White grapes on a green background, or on tarmac (see trail photo below)

Sign Wein-Kultur Weg

 

Another Sign for Weinbergsweg

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Old Gods Wine Wanderings

 

“Der alde Gott lebt noch” (The old God still lives), at least in the area of Sasbachwalden. A sea of vines, set in as bucolic a landscape as one could wish for, hold the secret to a long and happy life here, centered around wine and hiking.

As the story goes, a young man, on meeting the beautiful young woman who would become his wife, cried out: The old god still lives! They married, settled in the area, and enjoyed a happy life together. On seeing this wonderful trail, in such an idyllic setting, one could cry out the same.

Sasbachwalden

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Alde Gott: Trail in a Nutshell

 

Trail Name: Alde Gott Panoramaweg

Trail Type: Mid-distance circuit on tarmac, grass or hardpacked surfaces; well maintained, and very well marked.

Length: 9.8 kilometers/ 6 miles

Convenient to: Karlsruhe or Baden-Baden, Germany

Marking: Red background, white lettering of the trail name, often on a white metal arrow.

Alde Gott Trail Signage

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