I had hoped to walk in a winter wonderland, it being mid-December. What I hiked instead was a watery wander-land, crisscrossed by trails. But even without snow, it fulfilled the sense of mystery and magic inherent in every Christmas season, and ended up being one of the hikes whose sights and sounds I recall most vividly.
What I Learned
Within the German wine region of Baden lies the Kaiserstuhl wine district. With almost 4300 hectares (over 10,500 acres), it is the largest of all nine wine districts in Baden.
This district is the warmest site in Germany, with the highest average temperatures and the highest average hours of sunshine. In this district, the vines are planted mostly in terraces, mostly on south facing slopes of the Kaiserstuhl slopes.
The whole area looks and feels volcanic, as it was once one giant volcano. The volcano was active 16 to 19 million years ago, and since then, the terrain has eroded. Hence the underlying geology is volcanic. A layer of loess lies on top of what remains of the eruptions’ geological debris. The vines grow atop this geology in a series of terraces. The cuts in the terraces reveal the meters of depths (achieved over time) of this light-colored sediment. Two of Burkheim’s best known growth areas are Schlossgarten and Feuerberg (literally, “fire hill”).
Trail Name: Rheinauen und Weinbergweg
Trail Type: Short distance circuit; somewhat maintained with varied surfaces, tarmac to earthen (to include some wet ones), fairly good marking on the trail, but no trail-specific marking.
Length:
Total – 8.7 kilometers/5.4 miles
Convenient to: Freiburg, or Breisach, Germany
Marking: None specific to the trail, but all hiking trails in the area are marked with the generic yellow diamond on a white background trail signs.
Continue reading Trail in a Nutshell: Rheinauen und Weinbergweg
To many wine lovers, the Middle Rhine means exceptional Riesling. To me, the lower Moselle means scenery that is just as dramatic, in a region that is far quieter, with Riesling that is just as good. All that adds up to a wonderful vacation in the heart of one of Germany’s most well-known wine regions.
One of the great things about the Moselle valley is that most towns are all connected by a rail system on the left bank. Hence, going from Koblenz (on the Rhine), upriver to Trier, is both convenient and relatively inexpensive. I began in Lehmen, and hiked, on a variety of paths to Loef, where I spent the night. While I had completed hikes in Hatzenport (just one village away upriver), and another in Winningen, a few miles downriver, I found this short stretch of the valley particularly attractive. Not only were there several hiking trails to choose from (see the accompanying Nutshell here), the scenery was striking, the restaurants very good, and the Rieslings delicious, for less than many comparable Middle Rhine wines.
The trails start in the villages along the river, and climb steeply up the cliffs behind them. Due to the steepness of the slopes, the vineyards are small and steep, only rising to a certain point. Above them is forested area, and between it and further above, the trail runs, sometimes narrow and twisting over rock and tree roots, with clear views up and down the valley.
Trail Name: Wuerzlaysteig (See Comments below)
Trail Type: Middle distance; well-maintained but with very diverse surfaces along the trail; marking on the trail is good, albeit not necessarily for just one specific trail. (See Comments below)
Length:
Total – 13 kilometers/8 miles
Convenient to: Koblenz, Germany
Marking: (See Comments below as well)
A Bocksbeutel is such a distinctive type of wine bottle that words fail me when it comes to describe it. So, I turned to the internet and found in Wiki: “a flattened ellipsoid.” (Try to remember that from geometry class.) Better yet, because “a picture is worth a thousand words,” I photographed a bottle.
What I Learned:
There are three distinct wine districts in the Franconian Wine Region: The Mainviereck, the Maindreieck and the Steigerwald. Vineyards here can face more challenges than elsewhere in the region. While the first two districts follow along the Main River, the Steigerwald wine district does not. This means that the climate-moderating effects of a river do not apply. Additionally, the highest vineyards in the Franconian wine region lie in this district, some at almost 400 meters above sea level. Therefore, the elevation, as well as the distance from the Main River means that spring weather effects can come later, and fall weather effects can come earlier, and have more impact, than elsewhere in this wine region.
Trail Name: Talauen-Radweg, T-6; – (See also Bocksbeuteltour AKA Bocksbeutelrunde below)
Trail Type: Middle distance; well-maintained and almost exclusively paved, marking on the trail good
Length:
Total – 26 kilometers/16 miles
Convenient to: Neustadt (Aisch) (about 35 miles northwest of Nuremberg), Bad Windsheim, Germany
Marking:
