What I Learned
The Rhineland Palatinate’s Suedliche Weinstrasse (Southern Wine Route) has a long-documented history of wine-making. Grapes were cultivated and processed into wine even in the early days of Roman settlement along the Rhine. The implements found throughout various sites in this part of the Pfalz, (the German name for Palatinate), some of which are in the wine museum in Edenkoben, bear witness to this long and continuous history.
Trail Name: Fassbodentour 5 (“Cask-Land” tour 5)
Trail Type: Short distance bicycle circuit; almost exclusively paved, well maintained, but the route itself is not always marked.
Length: Total: 32 kilometers/20 miles
Convenient to: Landau, Germany
Marking: Square form with a green background and white designs of a cask and bicycle, displaying a “5”
The German region of Baden stretches from north to south for a couple hundred kilometers along the Rhine. The southernmost part of it, down by the Swiss borderlands at Basel, is known as Markgraeflerland. This area has some of the warmest and sunniest weather in Germany – great conditions both for growing grapes and bicycling!
So it was on a warm, sunny, Spring day, that I found myself enjoying the bike trails which cover miles of vineyards in this quiet corner of the Rhine river valley. And being a German holiday, the perfect weather lured more people than usual onto the well-marked and well-maintained trails. But no matter, a festive atmosphere prevailed along with the sunshine for the whole day! And I do mean festive: being a German holiday in the Spring, many wine taverns were open, some even with live music.
What I Learned
The Markgraeflerland district is along the southern-most section of the Rhine as it borders France, in the region of Baden, in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany. It is the southern-most wine producing district in Germany. It begins in Weil am Rhein, just outside the Swiss city of Basel, and continues almost to Freiburg. The vineyards lie on the foothills between the river valley floor, and the Black Forest mountains to the east. About 3000 hectares, and 90 cooperatives, cellars and wine estates are dedicated to the production of this region’s wine, carried out the in the villages and small towns that dot this area.
Trail Name: Markgraefler Rebland Radtour
Trail Type: Middle distance; bicycle circuit almost exclusively paved, largely on dedicated bike trail or lane; well maintained and signed, albeit not specifically marked for this trail.
Length: total: 35 km
Convenient to: Freiburg
Marking: Green and white bike directional marking only. (No marking specific to this trail.)
Continue reading Markgraefler Vine-Country Bike Tour: Trail in a Nutshell
This outing served my purpose well: a trip into the Franconian wine region’s Steigerwald district, to view vineyards; hike, then drink some quality wine; and do it all in under 7 hours.
Castell, a small village, far from bustling towns, but possessed of quality vineyards and a very good wine estate, fit the bill. A series of circuits meanders through its surrounding vineyards, all the while circling the tiny, picturesque village they support.
What I Learned
This post focuses on the Steigerwald district of the Franconian wine region, and more specifically on the village of Castell.
The Franconian Wine Region has three distinct wine districts: The Mainviereck, the Maindreieck and the Steigerwald. Unlike the first two, the Steigerwald wine district is not located along the Main River. This means that the climate-moderating effects of a river do not apply here. And since here is in central Germany, spring frosts can come later, and fall frosts can come earlier, then elsewhere in this region.
Trail Name: Casteller Weinspaziergaenge
Trail Type: One circuit of the outside segments of four shorter wine hiking circuits; gentle inclines on either paved, or hard-packed surface; well maintained and mostly (but not always) marked with the circuit name.
Length(s):
Large Trail: Casteller Weinspaziergaenge: circa 12 kilometers/ 7.5 miles
Segments: (each circuit total)
Greuter Bastel Circuit: 7.6 kilometers/ 4.75 miles
Schlossberg Circuit: 2.3 kilometers/ 1.4 miles
Hohnart Circuit: 2.5 kilometers/ 1.5 miles
Kugelspiel Circuit: 4 kilometers/ 2.5 miles
Convenient to: Kitzingen, Germany
Marking: Varies by circuit name, although “Casteller Weg” follows the outside edges of the inclusive circuit around Castell, and is mostly identical with Casteller Weinspaziergaenge. (See photo above for signage.)
