9/12/10, Sunday

I'm so excited for today. La Route du Vin in the Alsace Region of France is our destination. I love to go on wine tours, not just because I  really enjoy wine, but I love the beauty of the vineyards. I've been so anxious to see how wine touring in France compares to the U.S., or more specifically from my experience, California and Michigan.

We decided to start our tour in the village of Riquewihr because of a recommendation and it's location along the route. Troy, you were right, this village was by far my favorite of the day and of the trip so far!

This village makes you feel as if you just stepped back 400 years ago. Everything about it is still as if it has never changed. Cobblestone roads, slim passageways, original walls lining the village, fountains, wells, unchanged architecture from the Middle Ages, and the original entry gates make for a feeling of enchantment as you walk around this wonderful village. It was filled with tourists brought in by the busloads, but somehow that doesn't matter. You still feel lost in time.

Original entry to the village still intact and unchanged, even the gates and chains were still in place.

I loved this place...........so old

The vineyards rising out of the village....so beautiful

The village from up in the vineyards.

We took a little tour tram up into the vineyards, learned that in this region a family can make a decent living off of only two acres of vines.

The industry is regulated with many rules on when you can harvest, how much wine can be produced in the region and by whom.

Our first wine tasting cave. We had to go in, it was named Maison Zimmer, (House Zimmer), perfect.

The wine tasting "caves" are located right in the villages. There are many of them, so you can just wander in and taste but are expected to make a purchase. No problem!

They encourage you to taste from dry to sweet. The Alsace region grows grapes that produce almost all whites. The Muscat is dry and not sweet like it is in California. The Rieslings are very light and wonderful, Lindsey you would love them!! The Pinot Blanc was dryer than the Riesling but not as dry as the Muscat and the Gewurztraminer was sweet, almost like our Late Harvest Rieslings, Lindsey you would really really like this one!!  We tried one red here but it was very light, a Pinot Noir, but almost like a Rose with not much flavor.

We left Riquewihr with a very fond memory, a delicious bag of macaroons, and a bottle of Pinot Blanc. We headed toward the village of Haut-Koenigsbourg where a castle sits atop the Vosges. The drive along the route is so wonderful with views of vineyards surrounding you and little villages popping up every 2 to 5K. It was everything I expected, and again we couldn't have asked for a better day in weather.

This is the chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg. It was built in the 12th century and saw 8 centuries of European conflicts and rivalries between feudal lords, kings and emperors. That was your history lesson for the day. We walked quite a distance up the Vosges to the castle and it felt so good. There were bikers tediously pedaling  their way to the top. Quite a ride from the bottom of the Vosges. We did not tour the castle but walked around it and headed back to our car to look for a late late lunch, early dinner.

We made our way along La Route du Vin in search of a place to eat not realizing that on Sunday the restaurants close during the afternoon and reopen at 7:00 for dinner. It was 4:30 and we were starving. We dragged Taylor through the streets of many villages looking for that one place that might  be open. Not to be found. Just as we thought we would die from starvation, we came upon a winery named Hubert Blumstein that had an open sign. There were lots of cars (a good sign) but we didn't see any activity. We peeked around the corner and there it was, a big celebration WITH FOOD!! We promptly ordered up our Tarte Flambeau, which this region is famous for, a couple glasses of wine, and took a seat  at one of the tables amongst the happy crowd.

When we had our fill we wandered past a table of young men who were really enjoying their wine and their view of Taylor, and made our way to the wine tasting area. We were waved to a spot at the table by a young man who spoke very good English and was very knowledgeable and excited about his wine. He enthusiastically walked us through the full wine tasting experience . He was very thorough and we had a great time. We bought 3 bottles, two Rieslings and a Pinot Noir. The reds at this winery had much more body and were very smooth. From here we headed toward home through the last of the small villages on the wine route. We arrived home safe, happy and exhausted. My day along La Route du Vin was everything I had hoped for. I have to add that although the wine in this region is very good, I enjoy our wine in the States just as much. I'm no connoisseur, but in my view Michigan has very good wine!