Selestat, an important town for centuries throughout the Middle Ages, has numerous attractions for visitors, both viticultural and historical. The Velo Route du Vignoble d’Alsace (the Alsace Vineyard Bike Trail) first brought me here. (See the Nutshell). The trail’s northern half is somewhat hilly. So, by the time I got to the villages in the foothills just outside Selestat, between Dambach-la-Ville’s Grand Cru Frankstein vineyard and Kintzheim’s Grand Cru Praelatenberg vineyard, I was delighted with the flat stretch through vineyards overlooked by castle-topped mountains. I decided then to return to hike the area someday.
After years of remodeling, Selestat’s Bibliotheque Humaniste (Humanist Library) finally reopened, and I began researching local wine-themed trails. I first found the Vignoble de Selestat trail. (Online, the Circuit de Piemont and the Circuit du Vignoble refer to the same itinerary.) So, after visiting the library in the morning to see Merovingian and Carolingian manuscripts, I headed a mile away to the trailhead in Chatenois.
What I Learned
Alsace is a fascinating place. From a watery world filled with tributaries to the tributaries of the Rhine River, to the foothills covered with vines, to the tree-covered mountains of the Vosges, all lie within less than 18 kilometers/10 miles of each other. The valley area, sheltered from Atlantic weather to the west, and continental weather to the east, has optimal conditions for growing cool weather grapes.
Selestat was at one time one of the most important towns in Alsace. So, not surprisingly, monks founded the Abbey of Ebermunster on the Ill, less than 10 kilometers/6 miles downriver. But both places are in the water-rich plains of Alsace, where grapes will not grow. The monks therefore acquired lands for vineyards in the hills behind Selestat, and one of these plots became known as the Praelatenberg, or Prelate’s Hill.
Trail Name: Circuit du Vignoble (Bike), Circuit de Piémont (Hike)
Trail Type: Mid-distance circuit trail; well-maintained, with almost exclusively paved or hard-packed surfaces throughout, marking on the trail not always easily discerned
Length: 10.1 kilometers/6 miles
Convenient to: Selestat, Alsace, France
Marking:
Green circle outline on a white background (hike); Yellow (or orange) triangle (pointing to direction of travel) with two yellow (or orange) wheels, indicates a bike-able trail itinerary, though not clear whether this one or not. Note too, this sign indicates villages and distances to them. With so many trails (and signs) in this area, the issue is finding consistent marking to follow for a specific trail.
