Day 11: Schrebergärten (Wednesday, August 31st)

We will get to what is a Schrebergärten later. I get out of bed just before 09:00 this morning so this was by far my best sleep. Not sure how many hours I slept, but it was a decent sleep with some waking up and going back to sleep. When I got up Lana already on the couch. I did have my custom ear plug in my ear and we had the side blinds down which helped with railroad noise and light. In all probability the Thai massage worked wonders and the Melatonin may have assisted. 

It has rained already this morning as the forecast was for rain during the day and a thunderstorm in the early afternoon. Neither of us could get moving this morning. It is 22 degrees in the late morning and mostly cloudy. We try to figure out our plan for the early afternoon. Our Weingut appointment is not until 15:00 so we have some time. Finally we decide on our first hike of the trip and Lana finds a trail that is only about eleven minutes by car and should have some great vantage points of Trier. She brings her umbrella in case of rain and I wear my SAP wind shirt. Lana preps some cheese, cold cuts and rye bread so we can have lunch on the go. 

Tricky finding parking for this hike. Lots of "Parken Verboten!" signs and we are on a narrow lane in the middle of nowhere. After parking we decide to eat our lunch in our vehicle and then get hiking. It is always complicated trying to find the start of these trails and then head in the correct direction. Our hike is MOSELHÖHENWEG trail and it connects with the famous Moselsteig trail. We follow the signs below that identify our trail. This link will take you to our hiking data. Just click on it. It was not a long hike and only about 100 metres elevation gain, but we were in the woods with some great views of the Mosel and Trier. Very smooth paths and it was rare we ran into any other hikers. Some birds chirping, but otherwise no wildlife. Good first hike for our Deutschland trip. 

            The black Capital M sign Moselhöhenweg is what we need to follow on our little adventure in the forest. 

Yup, the Germans are pretty good with their signage on these many trails. In this area there are a number of trails and some run parallel to each other. 

This is a restaurant at the top of the hill and on our hiking trail. Lots of parking for cars as well near the restaurant. Great views from their dining room. Plus, they had a washroom just beside the front door. Out front of the restaurant was a huge patio that must be a dining area and beer garden on sunny warm days. 

The following two pictures were taken from a vantage point near the above restaurant. Between this hill and the small city of Trier is the Mosel River. This river originates in France and is called the Moselle.  

While driving to our Weingut appointment we came across a sign for Fart Diner. Yup, it is true although I cannot find it via Google. While we are driving Lana spots a Smart Car Roadster model and loves it.

We simply can't resist posting these pictures of the Mosel and Saar Riesling vineyards. They are on the sides of mountains and hills. Super steep grade. Not sure how they manage these vines and then having to pick the grapes!

The Mosel River with many vineyards along the river and on super steep grades. 

We arrived at Weingut Carl Loewen exactly on time for 15:00. Driving in the countryside it is imperative you have a GPS unit either in the car or in a cellphone app. We were tasting here six years ago with Christopher and loved all their Riesling wine. At that time his Dad was still the winemaker although they shared responsibility. His Dad is recently retired so Christopher is the winemaker. We spent almost a full 90 minutes sitting at his informal tasting table. It was good to catch up with him and enjoy their Riesling.

      Randy posing in front of their home which doubles as their business centre and wine tasting. 

Randy and Christopher Loewen sitting at his wine tasting table. Pretty informal. No wine tasting fee either. Very charming young man who is now a chair on the powerful VDP. Interestingly he asked us which Weingut we were planning on tasting at and he was pretty happy with our choices. He considers these Weinguts to be among the very best and they follow the same standards and techniques. 

These are my notes from our wine tasting with Christopher:

- the growing season has been very dry this year due to global warming

- he knows the wine director at Weingut Robert Weil in the Rheingau (Nico Pfaff)

- Christopher is involved in the organizing of the huge German Riesling Wine Auction this year

- he employs the traditional Riesling wine making with no cooling or heating of the wine during its fermentation phase

- simple process is pick, ferment, press and then only one filtration

- use the old fuder casks

- 2021 was a dry vintage due to the climate

- preference is for old vines as they have much deeper roots and even growth and the old growth wines have more length and complexity plus less alcohol

- 2021 vintage had good acidity which made for more elegance in the wines

- working in the cellar to ensure the wines are balanced between sugar and alcohol/acidity

- being a winemaker is like being a parent: nature vs nurture

- their oldest vineyard is from 1896 planting and maybe the oldest Riesling vineyard in the world

- when Napoleon took over this part of Germany he decided to classify all the vineyards which had been operated by monks -- he forced the monks to sell their vineyards and his ancestor bought some land

- he treats his wines "gently"

- the Mosel valley is mostly Catholic and not Protestant --- due to the fact that Trier was the northern capital of the Roman empire

- GG designation (Großes Gewãchs) is the Grand Cru of German dry Riesling wines

- a couple of years ago he spent 10 days in the USA visiting 10 states and was amazed at just how different each area was from the other states

- with current climate change they pick the ripe grapes in a much more narrow time period than previously so logistics are completely different and much more challenging

- they are a small winery so Covid was not such a challenge as they kept smaller employee bubbles during harvesting

- business is still good and sales are strong - they sell out each vintage

- 40% wine sold within Deutschland and 60% exported

- they are not selling any wine to the Russians

- overall great conversation which even involved global politics

We loved all the seven bottles of Riesling he served. He provided a one-pager outlining his wine with various details. Also, I made notes on this paper confirming residual sugar numbers, acidity and alcohol by volume. Lana made her own notes as well as we need to make decisions on which bottles we want to buy and take back to Vancouver. Alte Reben means old vines. Christopher's wines are very inexpensive compared to other Riesling Weingut as he is smaller and not much overhead. He describes each particular vineyard by its slate:

- grey slate creates a saltier and more mineral forward Riesling

- some of the grey slate vineyards also have quartzite rocks

- red slate creates more iron content, more herbal tastes and can be more powerful Riesling

- Herrenberg vineyard is red slate with 100+ year old vines and is at a higher altitude which means these grapes ripen later in the year and are picked later of course

- the highest alcohol volume is about 8% so not much alcohol in his wine

- he produces dry Riesling, medium-dry Riesling and the sweeter Riesling like Auslese and Spâtlese

- the winemaker is trying to balance the acidity with the sugar levels and have a low alcohol wine

- we purchased three bottles of his Riesling totalling 59 Euro and all were 2021 vintage

- 2021 Herrenberg Riesling Kabinett, 2021 Ritsch Auslese and a 2021 Maximin Herrenberg "1896" Riesling Alte Reben Trocken

Back on the road and I am getting hungry as it is now around 16:45. Also, many road diversions due to road construction. Maybe I did a few illegal u-turns?  I ask for more German cuisine and Lana googled a few places in Trier. She finds an interesting place with 4.7 out of 5 rating and it is not too far from where we are staying but too far to walk. Vereinshaus Tempelbezirk Trier Süd. You can find them on Facebook. They are listed also as a Beer Garden. You cannot get parking anywhere close to this place and we find out as soon as we park and then walk. 

This very casual restaurant is located in a Schrebergarten. If you have been to Deutschland and traveled on their train system you will have seen these interesting places along the rails. Basically small plots of land with a cabin and lots of gardens. Well this place is located right in the middle of a Schrebergarten (German Garden Colony). No cars can drive into these areas and given their more rural nature difficult to find parking nearby. 

This is our German restaurant located within a Schrebergarten. Pretty informal and you might walk right by without realizing it was a biergarten I can bet not too many fellow tourists make it here. No English menu is a give away. Our server was friendly and helpful. We sat outside on their huge patio and under one of their massive Bitburger umbrellas. It was cloudy, but warm. Their prices are very cheap compared to other places we have eaten. Plus, portion sizes are not quite American size, but pretty big! You won't find a picture of Lana's meal as she was too busy eating my dinner. She ordered the braised pork cheeks in pork sauce and they were delicious. Dipping the rye bread in them was special as well. 

Lana's mineral water and my Humpen Pilsner beer. I could not resist the name. 

Wow, this is my first schnitzel on our Deutschland trip and it was awesome! I ordered the Schnitzel with Spargel (white asparagus) and ham and käse baked on top. Two schnitzel patties means I won't need to eat for another 24 hours. The fried potatoes reinforced my feeling that the Germans do the very best fried potatoes! Well, they are not healthy but they are delicious! LANA: And Randy's secret talent for ordering the best dish on the menu strikes again!  I would have never thought that schnitzel with ham, asparagus and cheese melted on top would taste so good--too much going on to appreciate the simplicity of the schnitzel, but it was ridiculously delicious and I would definitely have Randy order this again so I could eat it. 

A typical German salad with carrots, marinated cucumbers, lettuce and marinated Daikon radish.

Back to our apartment before the major rains hit just before 19:00. I am busy comprising our blog while Lana is trying to stay awake sitting on the couch and watching German tv. Stopped raining after about 30 minutes. The trains are zooming along on a regular basis. For some reason the people staying below us love to slam their door? Randy gets to watch a live DFB-Pokal (German Cup) match between his favourite Bundesliga team Bayern Munich and their opponent Viktoria Köln. The opponent is terribly outmatched by Bayern's talent.   

Lets hope for a good sleep tonight!! Gute nacht    :-)