Esslingen
Vine in Beaujolais
Outside Obertuerkheim
Hills outside Fleurie
Above Fleurie
Sign on the Trail, Fleurie
Gallery February 2016
Tag Archives: Wuerttemberg
Green Creek and Red Mountain Land
Posts last month (here) detailed the first three stages of my hike through the southern-most portions of the Wuerttembergische Weinwanderweg (W4, for short), using only public transportation from Stuttgart. I ended the first half of my intended stages at the small town of Remshalden. This post (and the Nutshell) covers the remaining stages, passing through the wine growing area of Remstal, all the way to the historic city of Esslingen.
Wine Notes: Wuerttemberg’s Remstal-Stuttgart
What I Learned
Wuerttemberg is a large and diverse wine region. Throughout the region red varietals tend to predominate, especially the Trollinger variety. The part of the trail through greater Stuttgart essentially covered two of Wuerttemberg’s six wine districts. This post includes the Stuttgart and Remstal districts. These are right along the Wuerttembergische Weinwanderweg trail, slightly north and east of Stuttgart, and as far south as Esslingen.
Continue reading Wine Notes: Wuerttemberg’s Remstal-Stuttgart
Wuerttembergischer Weinwanderweg: Trail in a Nutshell
Trail Name: Wuerttembergischer Weinwanderweg
Trail Type: Long distance; often but not always 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: circa 27 kilometers / 17.5 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)
Continue reading Wuerttembergischer Weinwanderweg: Trail in a Nutshell
Gallery January 2016
The Way to the Vineyards, Trarbach
Trarbach, Church
Bernkastel Christmas Market
Bernkastel and its “Doctor”
Trarbach, Vineyards
Swans on the Neckar
Bernkastel, Vineyards
Trail, Wuerttemberger Weinwanderweg
Winnenden, Feathered Friend on the Trail
Training to Hike
Stuttgart is a huge metropolis, connected by an extensive rail system. Using Stuttgart’s subway/urban rail system trains, the “S-Bahn” in German, I hiked along the southern end of the 470 kilometer-long (292 miles) wine hiking trail known as the Wuerttembergischer Weinwanderweg. The W4, I as refer to it below for expeditious reasons, wends its way through the quiet, green belt surrounding the Stuttgart region, encompassing its vineyards in the Neckar and Rems Valleys.
Stuttgart’s public transportation system is extremely efficient, and unbelievably inexpensive with a tourist pass. To prove the point, over two weekends there I decided to hike the southern-most sections of the W4, using my three-day, all-network passes. Leaving from downtown Stuttgart, I headed to the town of Marbach on the the S-4 line. Famous as the home of the great German author Schiller, Marbach is the site of the northern-most conjunction of Stuttgart’s S-Bahn system and the W4. About 30 minutes later, I was on the trail, passing through the charming old town, high above the Neckar River.
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.
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)
Continue reading Wuerttembergischer Weinwanderweg: Trail in a Nutshell
Gallery February 2015
Hessigheim
Felsengarten
Tree and Vines
Palace at Kleiningersheim
Vineyards along the Neckar
Vintner Hut
Along the Neckar
Sign of aTavern: a Besen, or Broom
Vineyard Vistas
Footbridge over the Neckar
Hiking Felsengarten Reds
After completing the Felsengartenkellerei (FGK) Riesling Wanderweg, I felt compelled to even out the experience by completing an FGK red wine-themed trail, and a red wine tasting. Because the red routes are shorter than the Riesling trail, I decided to combine the Burgunder and the Trollinger trails, two of several red wine-themed trails that the FGK offers. (The others include the delectably-named Ruhlaenderweg, the Lembergerweg, the Samtrotweg, and the Dornfelderweg.)
