The Mosel Wine Country

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Luxembourg

While booking travel arrangements for the Mosel Valley, we realized that our destination was only 90 minutes away from Luxembourg City. A few extra hours of travel would allow us to add another country to the list, so Jer and I jumped on the opportunity. There was not a ton to see there, but the highlight was the caves, which were located on the border of the ruins of the old castle area. Other than the addition to the list of countries visited, Luxembourg City is probably worth a pass.

Bernkastel-Kues

One of my favorite wine regions in the world is the Mosel is southwestern Germany. It is primarily known for rieslings, and one of their most well known producers is Dr. Loosen, whose winery is located right next to Bernkastel. Since we did not have a rental car (all sold out), our wine tasting was limited to Loosen, which was walking distance from town. The winery is more like a residence than a tasting room. We had to make an appointment, and the tasting was very casual and led by the person in charge of European sales. I had already tasted many of the wines, but it was great to hear about the different vineyards and the history of the winery. At the end of the visit, Dr. Loosen himself, Decantur Magazine's 2005 Man of the Year, came out to chat. He was yet another German that complained at the difficulty of getting World Cup tickets! I planted the seeds for a potential wine tasting at Kellogg at some point when he is in Chicago over the next two years. I also picked up two bottles for less than half the price it would be in the US.

The town of Bernkastel itself was quite charming. It had a fairytale-like quality to it, almost like it was stuck in a time warp. On our first night there, you almost wouldn't have even known that the World Cup was happening in the same country. Many of the houses in the pedestrian only zones had been around for hundreds of years. Bernkastel sits right on the banks of the Mosel River. Just outside the town on the hillsides are some of the steepest vineyards that I have ever seen. The view from the bridge, looking down the river through the valley is incredible.

On our second and final day in Bernkastel, we were joined by my good friends, Adam and Josh from Chicago. They arrived just in time to watch one of the matches, and we went to a very small, rudimentary version of a FanFest. They brought me over a "wheat" beer, which I thought had a strange taste of anise. As I got up to use the restroom, I noticed a Jagermeister dispenser up at the bar area and immediately knew what the special wheat beer was...and that was only the beginning of the antics that would occur over the next week across Germany.

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Photos

Dr. Loosen
Me and Ernst Loosen, Decantur Magazine's 2005 man of the year

Meeting up with the crew
Josh and Adam join the party

Comments

[Mark Steele]

Antics
Hey I want to hear about some of the real antics of your trip! ;)