Village in Franconia
Detail – Dettelbach Pigrimage Church
Vineyards to the Alps
Dettelbach Along the Main
Sion’s Castles
On the Trail
Swiss Alps
Rhone by Martigny
Gallery August 2018
Monthly Archives: August 2018
Dettelbach’s Vines and Wines
The Maindreieck wine region in Franconia is an area of quiet refinement. This region offers lovingly preserved ancient towns untouched by mass tourism, and miles of fruitful vineyards producing some unique wines (and wine bottles), all nestled within the gentle curve of the Main River. Yet the sophistication of Wuerzburg, in terms of food and wine, pervades throughout.
Dettelbach, where this circuit trail begins, is a charming old town along the Main River. Behind its town walls, lies a hidden jewel, filled with carefully maintained half-timbered houses, Renaissance and Baroque era churches and chapels, and old homes with private courtyards, some now offering seating for very good restaurants. Exploring inside the walls is fun, but making the rounds of the existing wall sections and towers is even more interesting, as the towers’ architecture suggests centuries of upkeep and renovation.
Wine Notes: Maindreieck’s Dettelbach
Bavaria’s only wine region, Franconia, has three wine districts, the Maindreieck, the Mainviereck, and the Steigerwald. These wine growing regions are actually closer to Frankfurt am Main, than they are to Munich, the state of Bavaria’s capital. The Maindreieck, a triangle of land formed by an almost 180 degree turn in the Main River’s course, is particularly favored by nature to produce grapes. One of the major sites in terms of size is by the small town of Dettelbach, known for its consistently good wines.
Dettelbach: Trail in a Nutshell
Trail Name: Traumrunde Dettelbach
Trail Type: Mid-distance hiking circuit; well-maintained and almost exclusively paved, good marking on the trail.
Length: 10.5 kilometers/ 6.5 miles
Convenient to: Wuerzburg, or Kitzingen, Germany
Marking: Red semi-circle on a white background
The Other Rhone Vineyards
Rhone vineyards and their wines are famous throughout the world: Chateauneuf du Pape, Hermitage, Condrieu, Cote Rotie, etc. But the Rhone River begins in Switzerland, not France, and that was where I recently biked part of the Chemin du Vignoble, or the Trail of the Vineyards, following the Rhone River Valley vineyards in Switzerland’s French-speaking Canton of Valais.
Wine Notes: Valais
What I Learned
Valais means valley, in this case, the Rhone River valley in Switzerland. Here, steep mountains rise up from the narrow, valley floor. This wine region in the southwestern corner of the country has Switzerland’s driest and sunniest weather. Thus, it is a little wine-making paradise, and accordingly, the Valais arguably produces some of the best- known wines in Switzerland.
In the Valais, vineyards lie on the north side of the Rhone, facing primarily south, from the west in Martigny to the east around Leuk. Within this area are several varietals that are little known to the general wine-loving population outside Switzerland. These include the white varietals of L’Amigne, Humagne, and the Petite Arvine, and the red varietals of Cornalin, Diolinoir and Gamaret.
Chemin du Vignoble: Trail in a Nutshell
Trail Name: Chemin du Vignoble
Trail Type: Long distance, two-stage bike trail from Martigny to Leuk (aka Loeche), in the Valais Canton in Switzerland; well-maintained and almost exclusively paved, but marking on the trail can be problematic in places.
Length:
Total – 83 kilometers/ 51.5miles
Stage One – 36 kilometers/22.4 miles
Stage Two – 47 kilometers/29 miles
Convenient to: Martigny, Montreux, or Sion, Switzerland
Marking: Red stylized grapes with 72 in white, on a blue square, on a red arrow.
