The Rhineland Palatinate’s Suedliche Weinstrasse wine district has long had a multi-faceted approach to its wine-making and wine tourism. From cooperatives to independent wine makers, from car routes to hiking and biking trails through the vineyards and towns where the production of wine takes place. These are not one-off trails. Rather they have been well-thought out, and are mutually supportive. One bicycle circuit I recently completed demonstrates these characteristics.
Trail Name: Fassboden 6
Trail Type: Short distance circuit; almost exclusively paved, the remainder hard-packed earth; well maintained, and fairly well marked.
Length: total: 18 kilometers/ @ 12 miles (1.5 hours)
Convenient to: Landau, Germany
Marking: Green and white square sign, with white bicycle, wine barrel and number “6” in white.
Nearby were the vineyards, while far off in the distance lay the Rhine and its famous vineyards. In between were peaceful, expansive sections of woods. These were my first impressions. What these all had in common was the Wald, Wein und Horizonte (Woods, Wine and Horizons) hiking trail, a 17.5 kilometer-long trail circling some of the well-known vineyard areas of the Nahe River Valley.
What I Learned
The area around the Nahe River, a tributary to the Rhine, is one of Germany’s 13 wine regions. It roughly begins at Bad Sobernheim, and ends at Bingen on the Rhine, just where the Mittel Rhein starts to narrow dramatically. Along the relatively short length of the Nahe River, there is a great deal of variety in the soil composition. In addition to the slate and red sandstone, not uncommon in this western part of Germany, there is porphyry, quartz and melaphyr (a type of basalt).
Trail Name: Vital Tour – Wald, Wein und Horizonte (Woods, Wine and Horizons)
Trail Type: Mid-distance circuit; almost exclusively paved or hard-packed surfaces (only a couple of grassy slopes otherwise), well maintained, and extremely well-marked!
Length: Total: 17.5 kilometers/ 10.9 miles
Convenient to: Bingen or Bad Kreuzmnach
Marking: A pair of rectangles in red, with black and red lettering for the trail name, on a white background.
Continue reading Wald, Wein und Horizonte: Trail in a Nutshell
If there is any grape that wine-lovers consider the quintessential grape of Germany, it is Riesling. German Riesling is unique, with fairly high natural acidity (that mellows nicely over time), a great fruity character, and yet generally speaking, a light and refreshing wine. So, coming across a hiking circuit trail in the Pfalz, by Wachenheim in the Mittelhaardt wine district, I decided to hike it, and experience some of the Rieslings from local producers.
This hike, like the wine, was unique and easy to do, with just enough elevation to get the heart going. Like the wine, it could be a fun trail to hike with friends on an early summer day, although I was there in winter, which was fine too. Being a circuit, one could begin anywhere, but I began at the north end of Wachenheim, so that I would have the climbs out of the way first, and the wine-tasting opportunities later.
What I Learned
Riesling is without a doubt the iconic wine of Germany. According to the Deutsches Weininstitut, German vineyards supply approximately 50 per cent of the Riesling worldwide! The Riesling grape does particularly well in the German climate: It will ripen more slowly than many other varietals, and obtain optimal sugar levels in the cool, and often overcast German summers. German winters in the grape-producing regions tend to be cold with some snow, but rarely frigid, and relatively short – thus providing an ideal dormant period for the vines. Every German wine region grows this varietal. But the Mosel and the Pfalz, consistently harvest the most of it. In fact, Riesling currently represents 20 percent of all wine produced in the Pfalz.
Trail Name: Rieslingtour (AKA: Weinwanderrundweg 10)
Trail Type: Short distance circuit; much is paved, some hard-packed earth, some stairs: well maintained, but the route itself is only fairly marked.
Length: Total: @8 kilometers/ 5 miles
Convenient to: Bad Duerkheim, Neustadt or Mannheim, Germany
Marking: A “10” in black, on a round white background
