The Steigerwald, in Franconia, is a wonderful area. Unlike the other wine districts in the region, the Steigerwald is away from the Main River, and does experience a bit more variance in the weather. One March, hiking the Steigerwald on the first weekend of March, I failed miserably due to snow and ice. (See that story here.) Another March, a year and three weeks’ time difference, sunny skies and dry trails resulted in one of the most memorable hikes I ever completed in Germany.
I began in Castell, a delightful village with a good reputation for its wines. It is nestled at the base of low, vine-covered hills. This iconic village comes complete with a castle in its park, narrow streets and lanes filled with historic houses, and a church. But it was not alone – all the villages on the trail of this hike were just as charming.
Continue reading Steigerwald’s Stellar Vineyards and Villages
What I Learned:
Kronsberg, Julius Echter Berg, and the Kuchenmeister are three well-known vineyards in the Iphofen-Roedelsee area, the most famous perhaps being the Julius Echter Berg, named after a 16th Century Wuerzburg Prince-Bishop. (He served as the ruler of a large area within the Holy Roman Empire in Franconia, which he managed rather well.) It was during his lifetime that the Silvaner vines entered Franconia (the first documented record of it locally being in the Castell archives), and some of its best expressions come from the mineral-rich Gipskeuper soils (components shale, gypsum, anhydrite and rock salt) unique to the area around the Schwanberg, around which the three vineyards lay. This geological component, along with the influence of a continental weather pattern, can result in outstanding white wines some years.
Trail Name: Steigerwald Weinwanderweg
Trail Type: Long distance; almost exclusively paved or at least hard-packed surfaces, well maintained, fairly well marked.
Length: Total: 42.75 kilometers/ miles
Convenient to: Kitzingen, Bavaria, Germany
Marking: Green grapes on a white background, scored through by a wavy red line
Continue reading Steigerwald Weinwanderweg: Trail in a Nutshell
