Tag Archives: Hiking and Biking European Wine Country

Germany, Wines

Wine Notes: Wuerttemberg’s Unterland

 

What I Learned

Wuerttemberg is a large and diverse wine region. Throughout the region red varietals tend to predominate, especially the Trollinger variety. The Wuerttembergische Weinwanderweg trail through greater Stuttgart essentially covered two of Wuerttemberg’s six wine districts. This post covers the first one, to the north of Stuttgart.

Wuerttembergisch Unterland is the name of the wine district around Marbach and Benningen facing each other on opposite sides of the Neckar. Then Hoheneck (part of Ludwigsburg) and its counterparts on the opposite shore, Neckarweiher and Poppenweiler. The southern-most section of this district continues to around Affalterbach.

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Germany, Hiking, Nutshell

Wuerttembergischer Weinwanderweg: Trail in a Nutshell

 

Trail Name: Wuerttembergischer Weinwanderweg

Trail Type: Long distance; almost exclusively paved, fairly well maintained, but the route itself is not always marked in critical places.

Length:

(Total: 470 kilometers / 292 miles)

Segments Covered in this Post: 47 km / 29 miles

Convenient to: Stuttgart, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany

Marking: Red grape bunch on a white background (on a sign, painted on walls or trees, on stickers adhering to posts)

W4 Trail Marking
W4 Trail Marking

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Germany, Hiking

Hiking, Wine, and Christmas Markets

 

December: Often a cold month, and the month with the shortest days of the year. But along the Moselle, temperatures can be mild in December, and the short days are celebrated, as they are throughout Germany, with Christmas Markets! Anyone who has been to Germany during December knows what fun these can be.

Traditionally, Christmas Markets open at the beginning of Advent, (usually around the last weekend of November), and run until Christmas Eve. Usually set up in the town square (or squares!), they offer hand-made crafts, Christmas items (such as tree decorations, Christmas-themed table linens, nutcrackers and smoker men), live entertainment, and food and drink. Wine plays a role here too, as Gluehwein, or warm mulled wine, is a popular drink. Red or white, the Gluehwein not only helps warm chilled hands and feet, it also helps warm the heart. At Christmas Markets, Christmas cheer is evident, even if the weather can be cold.

Christmas Market Gluehwein Stall
Christmas Market Gluehwein Stall

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Germany, Wines

Wine Notes: Mittelmosel’s Bernkastel

 

What I Learned:

Along the Moselle River valley wine region, there are three sections: The Upper Moselle area, the Middle Moselle area, and the Lower Moselle. This post addresses wines and wine production in a small area of the right bank of the Middle Moselle, between Bernkastel and Trarbach. (For more information about this region’s wines, read here: http://www.winecountrywandering.com/wine-notes-moselles-bernkastel-district/.)

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Germany, Hiking, Nutshell

Bernkastel to Trarbach: Trail in a Nutshell

 

Trail Name: Bernkastel-Kues to Traben-Trarbach

Trail Type: Short distance trail; much of it paved, some of it grassy, the rest is dirt trail; well maintained, but the markings are not exclusive to this route, and change in places.

Length: total: 6.5 kilometers/ 4 miles

Convenient to: Koblenz or Trier, Germany

Marking: Multiple signs indicate the direction to “Traben-Trarbach” (or “Bernkastel” if going the opposite way); Gold lizards on a red heart on a red square marked this trail the first part of the way; Once atop the hill, “T-6”  and “Mosel Erlebnis Route”, were also signs on this same trail all the way to Trarbach. (See the featured photograph above, and red sign in the first photo below.)

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France, Hiking

Visan and its Vines

Some places are simply charming, and Visan is one of them. The small village is a visual gem, set on a low hill. Countryside surrounds it. It has delicious Cotes du Rhone Villages wines, to include the special Cuvee du Marot, and local olives to enjoy with them. Friendly people and great opportunities for hiking round out my paeans of praise.

The circuit hike I chose is one that is advertised online as the Vignes de l’Enclave des Papes (Vines of the Enclave of the Popes), but known locally as Circuit 12, or Circuit Est (East Circuit). The very helpful woman at the Syndicat d’Initiative oriented me to the maps they provide there, and off I went.

As the name implies, it heads east, through the well-preserved village center, out the old gate known as Porte Saint Martin (next to the Place de la Coconniere), and follows the old buildings ringing the historic center to the southeastern gate, the Porte du Puy Barret. From there, it was into the vineyards surrounding the village. But it wasn’t only vineyards. One of the great features about this trail is that is also passes by olive tree groves, and through forested areas, making for a nice variety of Provencal terrain to experience.

Porte du Puy Barret
Porte du Puy Barret

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France, Wines

Wine Notes: Southern Rhone Appellations

What I Learned

The Cotes du Rhone French wine region follows the length of the Rhone River from south of Lyon to Avignon. This post differentiates some of the different appellations of the Cotes du Rhone Meridionale (the southern part of this region), specifically the Vaucluse county (around Avignon).

Cotes du Rhone wines are certainly ones most people come across today. These wines are, and have been for centuries, quite popular, especially among lovers of rich, powerful red wines made from primarily Grenache, Mourvedre and Syrah grapes. Kings and popes coveted wines from here. The popes even acquired select areas with reputable vineyards, such as in the Enclave des Papes, and the famous Chateauneuf du Pape. (See the history of wine in this region here.) However, there are different quality levels within the region, and even within those wines with labels bearing the words “Cotes du Rhone”.

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France, Hiking, Nutshell

Vignes de l’Enclave des Papes: Trail in a Nutshell

Trail Name: Vignes de l’Enclave des Papes, (AKA: Circuit 12, Circuit Est)

Trail Type: A medium distance circuit, along almost exclusively paved or hard-packed surfaces; fairly well maintained, with generic signage.

Length: 10 kilometers/6 miles

Convenient to: Valreas, Vaucluse Department, Provence Region, France

Marking: Yellow signs on a post, and yellow rectangles (Not exclusive to this particular trail)

Location Marking, Visan
Location Marking, Visan

 

Yellow Rectangle Sign
Yellow Rectangle Sign

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France, Hiking

A Hike through History

 

Vaison-la-Romaine is a small town with a big history in France’s Vaucluse district. One side, set south of the river, rises up dramatically on an isolated rock. A Celtic oppidum was here, and later, medieval era people built their homes there, seeking shelter behind its gates, relying on the rock’s impressive defensive strengths.

Castle, Vaison-la-Romaine
Castle, Vaison-la-Romaine

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France, Wines

Wine Notes: Southern Rhone (Rhone Meridionale)

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What I Learned

Cotes du Rhone is the name of a French wine region. It is a long region, following a lengthy stretch of the Rhone River from south of Lyon to Avignon. This post covers the southern Rhone area, the Cotes du Rhone Meridionale (as it is sometimes referred to), specifically the Vaucluse county (around Avignon), where the climate is more Mediterranean in feel than in the northern Rhone district (around Lyon). (Find information on a northern Rhone district appellation, the Appellation Saint Joseph, here.)

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