The Kraichgau is a small corner in northern Baden. Quiet villages tuck into the steep folds of hills, following little valleys, generally along small creeks. It is spiritually far removed from the nearby big urban conglomerations, which you can occasionally see from the trail, in the distance. Pockets of vineyards lie among fields, and below tree lines, or on the sheltered sides of rolling ridges. The vineyards here are small, but well-tended. They are truly the agricultural manna of this area of Germany’s Baden wine region.
What I Learned
The Kraichgau district of the Baden wine region is relatively small, only about 1200 hectares overall. Known as the “Land of a Thousand Hills,” the Kraichgau is a slice of hilly territory located east of the Rhine, north of Karlsruhe and south of Heidelberg. This district is less well-known than many other Baden districts, and is characterized by small, farming (or now commuter) communities. The better-known Ortenau district of Baden begins south of the Kraichgau.
Grosslage Mannaberg, extending from Bruchsal through Ostringen to Wiesloch, has as growths: Kirchberg, Ulrichsberg, Schlossberg, Burgengraf and Heiligenstein.
Trail Name: Weinwanderweg Mannaberg
Trail Type: Long distance; well-maintained and almost exclusively paved or hard surface throughout, marking on the trail good in places, and missing altogether in others
Length:
Total – 21 kilometers/ 13 miles
Convenient to: Heidelberg, or Wiesloch, Germany
Marking: Blue grapes in a white circle on an orange background
Continue reading Weinwanderweg Mannaberg: Trail in a Nutshell
Local cuisine develops best from local produce. Local wine best complements local cuisine. In this part of southern France, lying in the leeward side of the Pyrenees Mountains, the warm, sunny and dry climate is such that herbs grow wild, and grapes grow well. Both are flavorful and intense. Taking advantage of the natural conditions, the local tourism office developed a short, educational, circuit trail focusing mostly on the local vegetation, set in patches between the vines, through and around the village of Cucugnan.
What I Learned
The Appellation d’Origine Controlee (AOC) Corbieres, is a relatively large area between Perpignan and Narbonne, west almost to Carcassonne. It is in the southwestern region of France known as Languedoc-Rousillon. Corbieres is large enough to merit division into eleven separate terroirs, or areas, one of which is Queribus. (Queribus is the name of a famous Cathar castle, in southern (Hautes) Corbieres, overlooking the towns within the terroir.) The appellation Corbieres-Queribus contains the following towns: Cucugnan, Duilhac sous Peyrepertuse, and Padern. The red wines from Corbieres-Queribus (most of the appellation’s production) derive from the red varietals of Carignan, Grenache, Cinsault, Mouvedre and Syrah; while the whites wines come from Bourboulenc (aka Malvoisie), Marsanne, Muscat, Maccabeu, and Piquepoul.
Trail Name: Sentier de la Fontaine
Trail Type: Short distance circuit; Somewhat roughly maintained; Marking on the trail is limited.
Length: 3.5 kilometers/2 miles
Convenient to: None, but the closest big city is Perpignan
Marking: Wooden signpost with a pointing finger, with the trail name inscribed, at the beginning and end of the trail, (see the featured photo) and educational signboards, see below, along the way.
Continue reading Sentier de la Fontaine: Trail in a Nutshell
