Breakfast is included with our room. Given we are staying out of the town centres of Bernkastel-Kues this works well for us. The breakfast includes hot and cold food, fruits, cereals, breads, cheese, cold cuts etc. Lots of selection of everything and you can get scrambled eggs and bacon if you like. You simply provide your room number when arrive. Breakfast is open from 07:30 to 10:00. We are up early as we want to get started on our hike before 09:30. I was really happy that again my surname was pronounced properly. They always pronounce it properly in Deutschland!
We arrive in the Mosel village of Bremm at 09:20 for our hike of the very famous Calmont-Klettersteig. We arrived in the small town of Bremm unsure of exactly where the hike began. As luck would have it--the street we turned onto directly from the highway had a sign for the hike!!! We park the car in a church parking lot and follow the trail. But the trail doesn't really have a lot of signage so we weren't always sure if we were going the right way. About middle of the hike, we encountered a group of Germans who had a map so that was serendipity. We were not sure of the route at that point and they assisted us. The younger guy spoke English so that was good. Also, we discovered with their help it is a loop circuit where you eventually where you hike to the top of the mountain and then along a ridge area and back down to where you start at Bremm. You hike along the side of the mountain among the vineyards both up and down, but mostly uphill.
The loop took us three (3) hours from start to finish with some stops. Parts of the trail were intimidating to me as narrow footpath above steep drop-offs, a ladder to climb and then get around, some lines to hang on so you don't fall to your death. Ironically, Lana didn't mind these sections and did really well with them as they are very much in line with her rock climbing!! But walking up steep paths was barely a work out for me and more challenging for her. The views are spectacular as the photos will show. Lana is getting pretty good at using her iPhone for panorama pictures. Some of the hike has some real vertical climbing and walking so lots of exertion. When we showed up we were the only car so had the early trail to ourselves. We were walking among the Riesling vineyards so that was really cool. When they talk steep slopes for the Riesling vines we were actually in the middle of these vineyards. The effort required to plant, maintain and farm these vines is impressive (and expensive).
The start of our hike this morning at 09:20. See the Riesling vineyard behind and already getting vertical.
Lana at the first major signage. She is wearing a windbreaker as it was on the chilly side to start (overcast skies), but within about 30 minutes was hot and sweaty with the exerting hike.
One of the signs on our route showing the bend in the river below.
View from high above the village of Bremm and the river Mosel.
Lana hanging on to the metal rope as you shuffle sideways. If you didn't have this assistance you would probably fall to your death down the steep slope. Lana commented that you "have to think like a mountain goat."
The river Mosel more downstream. That is cloudy weather not smoggy weather.
A religious cloister (Kloster Stuben) from many hundreds of years ago.
Check the steep hill this Riesling is being grown on. When we had our wine tasting at Weingut Reinhold Franzen the next day we discovered this was their vineyard called "Bremmer Calmont." This is a Grand Cru site for Riesling.
Lana's panoramic shot of the Mosel from a lower level and more at the beginning of our hike.
Lana says "look at all these hand-holds!!"
Check out this narrow footpath above a drop-off. Note the steel rope on the left that I am holding onto for security!! Yikes!!
Metal rungs used for your feet to scramble across the side of the hill. Very necessary...
Very narrow footpath with a steep drop-off below. The rail is used to transport pickers, winemaker and the buckets of grapes to the road below. In the background you see a grey rail--more on this later.
Lana's fantastic panoramic picture of the Mosel. The Mosel flows from right (upstream) to left (downstream to the Rhine River). This picture doesn't do it justice as you can see the villages up stream on both sides during this hike. Spectacular and totally worth the hike up!!
Picture of the map used by the German group that was hiking behind us and then joined up for a bit. Lana took a photo in case we got lost.
The village of Bremm below.
We really can now understand the Riesling winemakers when they talk about the slate that their Riesling vines grow from. There is no dirt. It is entirely slate rock. The slate rock is excellent at retaining the sun's heat and then at night keeping the plants warm. Rain will find itself deep into the earth where the Riesling vines have deep roots.
Yes, lots of tourist boats ply their way up and down the Mosel River.
Interesting sign for a vineyard that doesn't want the wild boars eating their grapes and ruining their vines. You need to lock the gate behind you at both sides. Plus, they have a regular siren that goes off. Lana says "the pigs have probably figured out how to open and close the gate by now--they're pretty smart animals". Randy says "maybe pigs can fly!!"
We think everyone gets their picture taken at this landmark on the trail. We had one of the German group take our picture. Check out the elevation. We are really high above the river and valley. You can see this flag from the road below.
The next part of the hike goes up above the flag as you can see. The Germans are still down there having more pictures taken.
Another picture of the village of Bremm.
We were hoping this picture might show just how steep the trail is at this point. Lana walks very carefully downhill so she doesn't fall or slide. Smarter than me... ;-)
At the end of the hike, due to time, we "slide" down through two vineyards. One where the earth is all pieces of slate and difficult to get any footing. Lana tells me that she has "sewing needle leg" --something that happens during rock climbing when your legs run out of energy and start to twitch like a sewing machine needle. The second vineyard we cut through I can hear Lana saying "ow, ow, ow" with every step--her legs were completely gone by the time we got back to the car. But, she powered through and was a real trooper!! Another picture trying to demonstrate just how steep the hills are and in particular the Riesling vineyards.
A signage of the "monorackbahn" which is a rail that runs up and down the mountainside for the vineyard. It takes up the vineyard maintenance people and then during harvest season takes up pickers and brings down pails of picked grapes.
A really interesting old picture I found in a restaurant that is ancient and shows the various wine growing areas of Germany that exist on or around the Rhine river and its tributaries.
Our first wine tasting appointment today was at Weingut Thorsten Melsheimer located in the small Mosel town of Reil. The usual very narrow streets to navigate and finding parking is a challenge. The Weingut is in the middle of the town and his cellar is below the Weingut. Thorsten is quite the character and has a lot of pride in his wine which shows in the quality of his wine. He describes his Weingut as bio-dynamic rather than organic. 60,000 bottles in the average year. 20% of his product is sparkling Riesling wine or cuvée. All his wine is fermented in wooden casks except for the noble sweet Riesling wines. Our first two tastings were cuvées comprised of 8 grams of residual sugar. They became bio-dynamic in 1994 as Thorsten started this approach. He is not VDP.
He talked about letting each wine ferment itself to its natural conclusion. I asked when does he know the fermentation is finished? He says he knows when he can't hear the fermentation and he knows by taste. Plus, he will do some measures in his laboratory. Some wine simply ferments longer and he just leaves it alone. No interference. Screw cap is used with lower price wines. He indicated that a screw cap is 50cents Euro cheaper than cork so that makes a big savings overall. Some of his wines are in the wooden cask for at least a year. Wow!
Thorsten is a fifth generation winemaker! They own one vineyard with documentation going back to 1143 in Latin. Maybe to 800, but no paperwork. He figures Riesling for around 700+ years! 40% of his wine is exported and a big customer is Denmark. He describes himself as "a farmer on steep slopes." Many of his wines are very old, but he doesn't know the ages. When I asked him about the Halbtrocken category (between 10 and 18 residual grams of sugar) he indicated it is not popular in Deutschland as "why would you want 1/2 a car." The first part of the word "halb" means 1/2. The 1/2 is it is not dry and it is not sweet. We tasted 10 wines (75 minutes duration) and indicated we were in a rush to get to the next appointment. A real highlight was a tour of his cellar below his house. We were showed all his rooms in the cool and quiet of the cellar. We could hear the fermentation in the wooden barrels. He has an impressive personal collection of wine amassed from his many travels and trading with other winemakers from around the world. Plus, he shared a fanastic pour of a TBA! Wow!
Thorsten Melsheimer (owner and winemaker of Weingut Thorsten Melsheimer) providing his expertise during our wine tasting. His Weingut is known for "organic" production using wooden barrels. Also, I have seen a video of Thorsten explaining his winemaking approach. We purchased his 2015er Melsheimer Feinherb for 9 Euro. Wow, it was so tasty!
Great side by side example of two Rieslings that are completely different. Believe it or not the coloured wine on the right is a Riesling. It's label states "Vade Retro" and it has one gram of residual sugar but more importantly absolutely zero sulphites. This is a niche wine that sells in Berlin and Scandinavia (famous NOMA restaurant). Hipster sommeliers are big on the stuff. The taste was "off" and doesn't taste like a Riesling.
Some steel fermentation tanks used for their entry-level Riesling wines.
Part of Thorsten's cellar. These bottles are the oldest Melsheimer vintage of 1949.
During out walk into the cellar we could hear popping and gurgling noises. Thorsten tells us that it's the active fermentation coning out of the barrels. Lana makes a video of the funny sound. A fermentation barrel and you can actually hear the wine fermenting.
This is what the wood barrels look like.
This is what the wood barrels look like.
Glass vats used for some ice wine.
We drove to Cochem to have lunch at Alte Thorschenke. This restaurant was established in 1332, therefore, is almost 700 years old. I had been in email contact to confirm they were open for lunch. We parked in a parkade nearby for 1.20 Euro for 90 minutes. At the restaurant they tell us the kitchen is "closed". Pretty disappointing based on being told they would be open. Later, Lana confirms they had a busload of tourists show up and by the time we arrived they were no longer serving. Maybe tomorrow.
We walked in Cochem in the very busy narrow old streets. We decided to go into Cafe Bistro Filou. The menu looked interesting and they are serving German food. They had a very impressive display of beautiful cakes and tortes! Service was OK as our server wasn't the friendliest we have encountered. Maybe being a tourist place in a tourist town turns off servers? Food was OK and filling.
Lana's Käsespätzle; hausgem, Butterspätzle mit versch, Käsen, Sahne & Röst Zwiebeln in der Pfanne bereitet for 9.60 Euro.**Lana here--this is one of those German comfort food dishes which is like mac and cheese only with home made spaetle noodles including bacon pieces and crispy onions on top--which is totally NOT healthy but after our hike I figured I deserved EVERY SINGLE bite. And it was FABULOUS :)
Randy's order of Flammkuchen Klassisch mit Créme Fraiche, speck, lauch, Zwiebeln und Käse Verfeinert for 8.20 Euro. Total bill with small tip 28 Euro. I ordered a Radler von Fass. In case you haven't heard of a Radler it is half Lemonade and half German beer.
We were intrigued by this vendor on a street in Cochem. She is selling Federweißer for a one litre bottle costing 3 Euro. We purchased a bottle. When we got home late I placed it on our working desk. In the morning we discovered some water on the floor and then on the table. The Federweißer had leaked/exploded (fermentation under pressure with openings in bottle top) all over the place. Sticky sticky sticky....
Castle on top of the hill above Cochem. Beautiful setting and very impressive from a distance.
Our last wine tasting appointment was at Weingut Clemens Busch located in the village of Pünderich right on the Mosel river. The wife of the owner/winemaker Rita Busch was our hostess. They produce between 100,000 to 130,000 bottles per year. Mostly Riesling wines. 16 Hectares and all slate vineyards. Ferment with a natural yeast and needs a long time sometimes to ferment. Export 60% of their wines and some to Ontario and Quebec. Winery founded in 1905. VDP associate. Biodynamic winery using old barrels. Described green wine bottles as the Mosel style. They don't print the GG on their bottles as these are more expensive to produce and heavier bottles. She described the VDP auction as "old school" given the lack of technology involved. Some of their vines are up to 100 years old. Most wines aged in wooden fudder barrels and all very old barrels.
Really great story told about the famous Mosel winemaker Egon Muller who basically sells all of his Riesling in the export market. When a group of foreign buyers showed up he was sweeping the street and they didn't know it was him. Rita stated the 2008 vintage is producing great wines. Given the reputation of the 2015 vintage many of their customers only want 2015 bottles. Wait some years to drink the 2015 bottles though. We tasted 18 bottles in total! She put out 3 glasses and on a few occasions we did vertical tastings of three different vintages of the same wine! Pretty cool experience. We purchased a 2014 Marienburg Spätlese Goldkapsel for 25 Euro. So tasty and well balanced for a sweeter wine. Total of 70 minutes at the tasting and Rita gave us some ideas for dinner in the nearby town.
Weingut Clemens Busch located just across the street than runs along the Mosel.
Across the river Mosel from the Weingut is an example of how they utilize the entire side of the hill for growing their wines.
Lineup of Clemens Busch wines with the slates that apply to those specific vineyards.
The village of Reil is very close to the Weingut. We had a light dinner at Hotel Reiler Hof Heim's Restaurant. The food was OK and the service was OK. It was cool being in a restaurant overlooking the Mosel and watching the boats go by. Being in the restaurant it really struck as that the Mosel tourist demographics are baby boomers. Plus, a high majority of the tourists are Deutsch.
Lana's order of Summer Salad with Prawn Tempura.
As we were leaving the restaurant and town we received a text from Thomas Gerstner (German friend living in Zurich, Switzerland) who is working for SAP and in Walldorf for a business meeting. Thomas wanted to meet up with us and we picked a 1/2 way point being Wiesbaden. It took us a little more than an hour to get to Wiesbaden and we arrived around 20:15. We met at Webers Wikinger Restaurant and he arrived within moments of our arrival. We last met up about four years ago and lots to cover in person. By the time we got back to our hotel room in Bernkastel-Kues it was after midnight. Lana drove and was a bit apprehensive driving at night on the highways in unfamiliar territory but did just fine. :) PS good experience for us being spontaneous in agreeing to meet up with our friend
Lana's order of Berner style Rosti (potato patties in mushroom sauce baked with cheese and tomato on top). Delicious. Randy tried a couple of different Riesling wines. Lana says "yayyy--more German comfort food!"
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