Tag Archives: Germany

Gallery September 2014

Hiking the German Wine Route: The Mittelhaardt

The Mittelhaardt is a lively district in September and early October, because this is when Neustadt an der Weinstrasse  holds its famous Weinfest, preceded by the Wurstmarkt, in Bad Duerkheim. These are two of the most popular wine festivals in the Mittelhaardt. These two small but fun towns, about 11 miles apart, are joined by the German Wine Route Hiking Trail, as it makes its way through the Mittelhaardt wine district of the Pfalz.

After finishing the southern half of the same trail, leading through the Suedliche Weinstrasse wine district to Neustadt, I later continued north through the town and into the nearby vineyards.

 

Haardt Villas
Haardt Villas

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Wine Notes: Pfalz Mittelhaardt Wine District

What I Learned:

The northern part of the Pfalz wine region is known as Mittelhaardt, beginning around Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, and continuing to around Worms, in Zellertal.

Reds grown here include the Spaetburgunder (Pinot Noir), and Dornfelder, among others. But Riesling grapes predominate, as more than half the grapes grown in this region are of this varietal. Other white varietals of German fame include Mueller-Thurgau, Kerner, and Gewurztraminer. One varietal cultivated here, not often heard of in the non-German world, is known as the Scheurebe. In 1916, German viticulturalist, Georg Scheu, created this grape in his institute’s laboratory in Alzey, not far from the northern edges of the Mittelhaardt. This varietal is often destined to produce the sweet wines.

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German Wine Route Hiking Trail – Mittelhaardt District: Trail in a Nutshell

Trail Name: German Wine Route Hiking Trail/Wanderweg Deutsche Weinstrasse

Trail Type: Long distance hiking trail; pavement or hard-packed trail surface throughout, well maintained, and fairly well-marked.

Length:

Total: 96 km/60 miles of the complete trail

First segment of the Mittelhaardt district: 18.5 km/11.5 miles

Second segment of the Mittelhaardt district: 24 km/15 miles

Convenient to: Ludwigshafen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany

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Hiking the German Wine Route: an Oenophile’s Paradise

One of the loveliest hikes in Germany is a 60 mile-long,  mostly a gentle walk through vineyards and villages, at the edge of the Haardt Mountains on the west side of the Rhine River Valley. The entire area in this southwest corner of Germany is known as the Pfalz, in German, and the Palatinate in English. As the name implies, the area is filled with castles. Castles and wine: I love this region! The pristine villages, back-dropped against evergreen, red sandstone mountains capped by castle ruins, with their wonderful wines and wineries keep calling me back for more visits.

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The Classic Deutsche Weinstrasse: Hiking the Suedliche Weinstrasse

The Weintor, a towering gate marking the beginning of the German Wine Route (Deutsche Weinstrasse), will forever mark in my mind the first step of a fantastic journey: A wonderful hike through the glorious and relatively unknown German wine districts of Suedliche Weinstrasse and Mittelhaardt in the fabulous region of the Pfalz in southwest Germany.

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Wine Notes: Pfalz Suedliche Weinstrasse

What I Learned:

The Pfalz has a long 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, some of which are in the museum in Edenkoben, bear witness to this long history. The tradition continued with the establishment of regional monasteries, such as the one in Wissembourg, France, just south of today’s Weintor in neighboring Germany, dating to the 600s; and important dioceses’ centers in old Roman districts, such as Worms and Speyer. (Church services required wine, hence vineyards for the raw material.)

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Deutsche Weinstrasse/Suedliche Weinstrasse: Trail in a Nutshell

Trail Name: Deutsche Weinstrasse Wanderweg (Schweigen – Leinsweiler-Edenkoben-Neustadt/Weinstrasse segments)

Trail type: Long distance hiking trail; mostly hard-packed gravel or paved, well maintained and fairly well marked.

Length: total (of the Suedlich Weinstrasse half): circa 54 km/33 miles

Schweigen – Leinsweiler segment: circa 25 km/15 miles

Leinsweiler – Edenkoben segment: circa 18 km/11 miles

Edenkoben – Neustadt segment: 11 km/7 miles

Convenient to: Karlsruhe, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany

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