Category Archives: Luxembourg

Luxembourg’s Moselle Vineyards

 

Luxembourg is a small country. But good things often come in small packages, as the expression goes. This is true not only of the Duchy, but also of the wines, and of the wine trail I completed.

Luxembourg’s wines, especially its sparkling wines, are appreciating in quality year over year. One of the oldest caves for the Domaines Vinsmoselle, is in Wellenstein in the Canton of Remich. In this southern-most section of Luxembourg’s appellation, wine is big business. Accordingly, three small communities closest to this cave have collaborated to create an educational wine trail. While not in the largest appellation along the Moselle, nor perhaps the most celebrated, this trail deserves pride of place among many of the hiking trails, large or small, found up and down the Moselle for a number of reasons.

Looking Downriver
Looking Downriver

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Circuit Viticulturel: Trail in a Nutshell

 

Trail Name: Circuit Viticulturel or Wain a Kulturpad

Trail Type: A short distance; almost exclusively paved, (except about a kilometer, if using a grassy shoulder along a road), well maintained, but not a lot of trail signage.

Length: Total: 10 kilometers/ 6 miles

Convenient to: Remich or Schengen, Luxembourg

Trail Marking: See photo below

Circuit Viticulturel Signage
Circuit Viticulturel Signage

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A Luxurious Christmas in Luxembourg

Celebrating the holiday season in luxurious style often involves a bit of sparkling wine, and Luxembourg sparkles in that regard. Spending Christmas in Luxembourg gave me the opportunity to sample Luxembourg’s sparkling wines, visit some caves, and hike two overlapping trails through vineyards stretching along the slopes of the Moselle Luxembourgeoise wine region.

Bech-Kleinmacher and the Moselle
Bech-Kleinmacher and the Moselle

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Wine Notes: Luxembourg

What I Learned:

Little known, as not much is exported, Luxembourg’s wines are readily available and thoroughly enjoyed by residents and visitors in the Grand Duchy. For lovers of dry, white wines, this region provides some delicious alternatives to Alsatian or Rhine white wines.

From the towns of Schengen to Wasserbillig, Luxembourg joins the centuries old tradition of producing wines along the Moselle. On this west side of the river, local vintners grow their grapes mostly in terraces rising steeply from the narrow river plain for much of Luxembourg’s 42 kilometer stretch along the Moselle.

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Circuit Cremant and Auto Pedestre 1: A Nutshell on TWO Trails

Trail Names:

Circuit Cremant

Auto-Pedestre 1

Trail Types: 2 short distance circuits;

Cremant: Short hiking circuit; paved, well maintained and marked.

Auto-Pedestre 1: Short hiking circuit, some parts paved, some hard-packed, some soft dirt; some sections marked, but markings missing in a couple of crucial spots.

Lengths:

Cremant: 4.6 km/2.8 miles

Auto-Pedestre 1: 8 km/5 miles

Convenient to:

Luxembourg, Luxembourg, with local public transportation

Trier, Germany, with a car

Markings:

Cremant: Flute on a white pentagon, on red background with green edge

Auto-Pedestre 1: Black “1” on a blue triangle on white rectangular sign

(Note: The photo’s blue hexagon with a yellow rectangle is the sign for the Sentier de la Moselle, described below.)

 

Signage for Auto Pedstre 1 and Cremant Trails
Signage for Auto Pedstre 1 and Cremant Trails

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Luxembourg’s Velo Vinum

Little country, big sparkling wines, and a mid-sized bike trail. Luxembourg, tucked between Germany, France, and Belgium, is a small jewel of a place. It has taken the best of French and German wine-making and culinary practices, and incorporated them into its own. This is especially true of its sparkling wine production techniques.

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