Wine Country

Our first wine tasting in Alken

The Mosel Valley is one of Germany's wine regions.  Here riesling is king and the number of vineyards and small family wineries is astounding.  I'll admit up front that I've never been a wine drinker, mostly because I just don't care for the taste.  Red. white, blush -- it doesn't matter.  While not necessarily a connoisseur of wine, Mona knows what she likes which is usually white wine that tends to be on the sweeter side.  Moscato is her favorite.

We knew coming over that German rieslings would be drier and not as sweet as what we tend to have at home.  What we didn't expect is the sheer number and varieties of riesling.  Most of the wine produced here is hyper-local, meaning it's not exported and you may only find it in the town where the vineyard is located.  As we stopped in various towns and villages along our Mosel drive, we found a weinstube (wine room) where you can have tastings -- sometimes free if you plan to buy a bottle or two.

Calmont vineyard -- steepest in Europe

They say that the soil type and environment have as much effect on wine as the actual grape itself.  The Mosel cuts through the hills of western Germany and the terrain is very steep.  So steep, that many of the vineyards are terraced with stone walls.  And the soil?  It's actually a very rocky shale and not necessarily a rich, fertile soil.  One of the vineyards we stopped at was Calmont in the village of Bremm, which is the steepest vineyard in Europe at close to 60% grade.

Mona on the "wine train" used to traverse the steep slopes

The verdict?  Both of us have thoroughly enjoyed the wines here.  For me, that's saying a lot as I've never been a wine drinker.  For the first time, Mona and I can share a bottle over a meal which has never happened before.  We've both tended to enjoy a riesling feinherb, or "off dry."  Has it converted me to become a wine drinker?  Doubtful.  Given the choice, I'll still probably order something else, but for the remainder of the trip, I'll probably be sharing a bottle. 

Dinner at Weinstube Kesselstatt in Trier