{"id":4815,"date":"2017-08-02T02:17:29","date_gmt":"2017-08-02T02:17:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.backroadswest.com\/blog\/ghost-town-trail-near-lone-pine-copy\/"},"modified":"2022-09-21T19:31:58","modified_gmt":"2022-09-21T19:31:58","slug":"german-riesling-wine-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.backroadswest.com\/blog\/german-riesling-wine-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"German Riesling Wine Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Wine made from the Riesling grape in Germany tends to cause a lot of confusion to American wine drinkers.<\/strong>\u00a0 German wine makers put several classifications on Riesling wine that describes its different styles.\u00a0 Therefore, when purchasing a bottle of German Riesling, it is important to know these classifications.\u00a0 After reading our article about our travels through the Moselle River region, hopefully you will understand these classifications, be more satisfied when you open that next bottle of Riesling, and appreciate the region the wine comes from.<\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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Anyone who knows us knows that we love wine and one of our favorite white wines is Riesling.\u00a0 Webster\u2019s defines Riesling wine as \u201ca white wine that ranges from dry to very sweet and is made from a single variety of grape originally grown in Germany\u201d.\u00a0 This is an accurate statement but there\u2019s so much more to it than that.\u00a0 Join us as we dive into this topic and try to understand this delicious wine.<\/p>

Our confusion about Riesling happened every time we made a trip to any of our favorite big-box liquor stores.\u00a0 We walk to the Riesling section and were immediately faced with so many choices within the \u201cRiesling\u201d varietal that we just didn\u2019t know where to begin or how to choose.\u00a0 There were labels like Qualitatswein, Kabinett, Spatlese, Auslese and Eiswein.\u00a0 What do they mean?\u00a0 Is one sweeter or drier than the other?\u00a0 What does \u201ctrocken\u201d mean?\u00a0 Why are some bottles so much more expensive than the others?\u00a0 Unlike other wines, such as Chardonnay or Merlot, Riesling is the only wine that has so many categories.\u00a0 There was obviously much to learn and so we set out to understand (and taste) those differences by taking a trip to the Riesling-producing region of the Moselle River in Germany.<\/p>

Our Travels<\/h2>

Our first visit to Riesling country started with a river cruise that went down the Moselle and then up the Rhine.\u00a0 The Rhine is a major river that passes through Europe and the Moselle is one of its tributaries.\u00a0 On the cruise, we sampled the wines in each port and tried to compare them to each other.\u00a0 We learned that Riesling is very \u201cterroir-expressive\u201d meaning that the character of the wine is greatly influenced by where it is grown and the type of soil it is grown in.\u00a0 Much of the soil on the steep sides of the Moselle River Valley is made of slate and that flavor definitely comes through in the wine.\u00a0 Riesling grapes grown in other areas do not have this distinctive flavor.<\/p>

We also learned that Germans (and other nearby countries) have been growing Riesling grapes for hundreds of years and that it is very versatile.\u00a0 This is probably one reason why there are so many different classifications and, in turn, why it is so confusing to many wine drinkers (like us).<\/p>

At the end of this cruise we realized that, although we had picked up some knowledge, there was still a lot more to learn about this delicious but complicated wine.\u00a0 We had also fallen in love with the quaint little villages and wanted to spend more time visiting the many \u201cweinstubes\u201d (German for a wine bar or cellar) and \u201cweinguts\u201d (winemaker or vineyard) as well as sample more of the delicious local cuisine. \u00a0A return visit was a must!<\/p>

So, a few years later we were back to Germany on a road trip through the Moselle River Valley.\u00a0 We would concentrate our efforts in the area of two towns, Bernkastel and Zell, and be traveling with our cousin living in Holland.\u00a0 Our cousin is an avid hiker, speaks fluent German (unlike us) and was only a quick train ride away from us.\u00a0 We flew into Dusseldorf, drove two hours to Zell, picked up our cousin at the train station, and began our wine adventure!<\/p>

Zell<\/h2>

We spent our first full day exploring Zell and hiking into the vineyards that ascend steeply behind this picturesque town.\u00a0 Zell is known for producing its own style of Riesling known as Zeller Schwarze Katz, which translates to \u201cblack cat from Zell\u201d.\u00a0 Legend has it that when wine merchants tasted the local wine, they couldn\u2019t decide which barrel tasted the best.\u00a0 Suddenly, a black cat jumped onto one of the barrels and arched its back, seeming to protect the barrel it was on.\u00a0 They chose that barrel and the legend and icon of Zell was born.\u00a0 Today, winemakers from Zell include some form of a black cat on their labels and the tourism agency cleverly uses a drawing of a black cat toasting a glass of wine as their logo.<\/p>

Our hike through the vineyards above Zell was amazing and very steep.\u00a0 There were two trails to choose from – normal and advanced.\u00a0 The advanced trail required the use of ladders and ropes to climb up the cliffs so we decided to stick with the \u201cnormal\u201d route.\u00a0 At the top, we had great views looking down at Zell, the Moselle River and the endless vineyards up and down the river valley.\u00a0 We continued the hike into a forest where there were so many birds singing that it was almost deafening.\u00a0 We descended back down into a village just past Zell where our cousin insisted that we stop at a little place and have some Spargelsuppe (white asparagus soup) and, dare we say it in wine country, a glass of Bitburger beer.\u00a0 Both were delicious!\u00a0 It was the perfect end to our long hike.<\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Pictures<\/h3>

Below are some pictures of what you will see along the way.<\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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