Baden

In the south-western corner of Germany lies a distinctive wine region, encompassing some 16,000 hectares of vineyards - making it the third largest wine region in the country.

The average vintage in Baden produces around a million hectolitres of wine.

At the time of writing this page, Baden is the only wine grape region included in the EU's Zone B - which exposes higher minimum requirements for Quality Wine and Quality Wines of Distinction.

Other wine regions included in this zone include the likes of Alsace, Champagne and the Loire Valley - which places Baden in serious company!

Surprising then, that little is actually known about Baden outside its own borders.

Baden covers over 400km, including 9 districts:

Badische Bergstrasse, Tauberfranken, Kraichgau, Ortenau, Breisgau, Kaiserstuhl, Tniberg, Markgräflerland, and Bodensee.

Kaiserstuhl

By far the largest number of wines, and largest vine area in Baden is the Kaiserstuhl [King's Seat}.

This hilly outcrop in an otherwise fairly flat area is actually the core of an ancient volcano. Its soils are thus volcanic, and give rise to a mineral quality to the wines. However there are areas of loess - a fine, light soil that erodes very easily - which retain water more readily and have given life to some fuller-bodied wines during hot years.

This area - the warmest wine grape-growing region in Germany - is able to ripen even red wine grapes to sufficient levels to produce excellent wines.

The area speciality would have to be the Spätburgunder Weissherbst . Made from the Pinot Noir grape, the mineral qualities of the soil impart a spritzy character to this light-bodied red.

Unfortunately the best wine of this region stays in the region. - and you really can't leave without trying several bottles!

Visiting Cellar Door

Such a large area, and so many wines - how do you get to try more than a few?

The Badischer Winzerkeller in Breisach can help out here. This is actually the largest winery in Europe, built in 1952 to bring efficiency in production for the small wine grape-growers of the region.

This consortium of growers boasts 38 members growing exclusively for the Badische Winzerkeller, and a further 35 members who bring part of their vintage to them.

Altogether, they bring around 4.5 million kg of grapes, which are grouped by varietal and presed to make the Baden wines.

Spätburgunder accounts for 44% of the harvest, with Müller-Thurgau the second largest at 27%, and a handful of smaller quantity wine grapes.

The Winzerkeller also does tours - including a slide-show on the Baden wine-growing regions, followed by a guided tour of the winery, bottling plant, warehouse and cask-cellar.

The bad news is that the brochures handed to you in Freiburg's tourist office are in english, but the tours are not.

Also, although the brochure says daily tours, I was told to come back the next day when I turned up. You get the impression they're really not interested in single visitors, and thus they'll tell you to come back on a day when they have a group booked in, so they can tack you on.

The good news is that the Winzerkeller readily brings out the tasting bottles for you to enjoy and choose from. In fact the range in the shop is extremely well priced!

You can also get piccolo's (small bottles) of many wines for less than a couple of euro ... so there's really no excuse to leave empty-handed!

Getting to the Winzerkeller is simple. Jump on the Breisach S-bahn at Freiburg Hauptbahnhof for the short trip to Breisgau. When you get off at the station, turn right and just keep walking along the same road. You'll actually see the Winzerkeller from the train just before you arrive in Breisgau, so you can get your bearings then.

When you get to the Winzerkeller, turn and look towards the Kaiserstuhl, and you'll get a view of the most dramatic terraces - which are part of Ihringen. This is where the best reds come from in the region.

Cost of return ticket at time of writing is €9.60 - which actually entitles you to travel on all buses, trains and trams in Frieburg and surrounds for 24 hours.

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Last Updated: Sunday, February 07, 2010