On the (Wine) Road Again

Anyone who has followed my blogs over the years is familiar with how much I enjoy driving along the Alsace Wine Road (Route des Vins d'Alsace).  Officially launched as a tourist route in 1953, the Alsace Wine Route (D35) winds its way lovingly through 170 km of hills and vineyards from the north in Marlenheim to the south in Thann not far from the Swiss border.  The most popular part, as least as far as I am concerned, is the part running from Obernai to Equisheim.

It passes through almost 70 winegrowing villages where almost 1,000 wine makers share their passion for wine with visitors.  There are 119 wine producing districts, 15,600HA of vineyards, and 4,200 wine growers of whom 390 sell their wine.  The majority of viticulteurs open their doors to let people sample the region's wines all year round.  The majority of the wines are white with the varietals being Sylvaner, Pinot Blanc, Riesling, Muscat, Cremant d'Alsace, Pinot Gris, and Gewurztraminer.  In addition, there are several vintners who produce red and late harvest wines.

Our first stop was Bergheim, a medieval walled village with its fortifications dating from 1300.  

We continued south making Ribeauville our next destination.  It was quite busy there as it was a Sunday as well as May 1st, International Workers' Day.  We did manage to find parking, thankfully.  The only downside was that most of the shops were closed except for ones selling specialty foods - we couldn't resist buying some Munster cheese - and souvenirs.

We decided we had time to visit one more village and this one, Riquewihr, I consider to be one of the "jewels in the crown" of the prettiest villages along this route.  It, along with Eguisheim (which we will visit later on this trip) and Kaysersburg are my favourites.  From the crowds in Riquewihr, it seems lots of people agreed with me!

So, with that, we called it a day and headed back to Rhinau.  We passed through Markolsheim where the Maginot Line Museum is located.  As you drive through the countryside here you see remnants of that ill-fated defense system everywhere.