TRAVEL: BADEN
Six of the best wineries to visit
Above: Weingut Bercher
and Weingut Huber (top)
both make superb
Spätburgungers
Left: the picturesque
village of Durbach sits in a
valley surrounded by vines
The Decanter travel guide to
Photograph: Reinhard Schmid/Huber/4Corners. Maps: Maggie Nelson
Baden, Germany
FACT FILE
Total planted area
15,400 hectares
Main grapes
Spätburgunder, Riesling,
Müller-Thurgau, Gutedel
Grauburgunder,
Weissburgunder
Production (2011)
1.1 million hectolitres
Main soil loess, volcanic,
granitic, muschelkalk
Hot springs, outdoor sports,
delicious local produce and
Pinot-based wines make this
pretty corner of Germany a real
draw, discovers Sue Style
A GLASS OF Sekt on the terrace of Schloss
Staufenberg high above the village of Durbach
whets the appetite and sets the scene perfectly for
Baden wine exploration. Lapping at your feet are
successive waves of steeply planted vines, while up
on the eastern skyline is the Black Forest, clothed in
hunting green conifers. In the other direction your
gaze leads down to the Rhine Valley, beyond which
you can pick out the spire of Strasbourg’s cathedral.
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People have long beaten a path to this sunny
south-western corner of Germany for hiking, biking,
cross-country skiing, plus bathing in the hot springs
of Baden-Baden, Bad Krozingen, Badenweiler and
countless other Bad-prefixed spots. But today it is
increasingly the food and wines that are Baden’s
trump card. Twenty years’ ago, when my family
settled in Alsace, there was a steady stream of
German cars coming across the Rhine for the day in
search of a good meal. Now, much of the traffic goes
the other way: study the number plates outside any
of Baden’s many fine eateries and you’ll find almost
as many French-registered cars as locals.
Meanwhile, Baden’s wines – the three Pinots
(Noir, Gris and Blanc; aka Spät-, Grau- and
Weissburgunder respectively), plus Müller-Thurgau
and some Riesling – have moved way beyond ‘closely
‘Lapping at your feet are
waves of steeply planted vines,
while up on the eastern skyline
is the Black Forest, clothed in
hunting green conifers’
guarded secret’ status. Esteemed on their home turf
and well represented in Germany’s top restaurants,
they’re now winning plaudits abroad, often beating
their peers in global competitions (Fritz Wassmer’s
Spätburgunder 2009 won the International Pinot
Noir Over £10 Trophy at the 2011 Decanter World
Wine Awards). Terrific terroirs, reduced yields,
precise winemaking, reining in of residual sugar
levels in whites (which some of their cousins across
the Rhine could learn from) and judicious use of
new oak in reds are a few of the factors that have
helped put them on any serious wine lover’s radar.
From Ortenau…
The vineyards stretch from Heidelberg in the north
down to the Swiss border, but the meat of the matter
is found between Baden-Baden and Basel. For a
H Schloss Staufenberg,
H Weingut Bercher,
A magnificent castle-winery owned by
the Margrave of Baden. Elegant
Riesling, plus Sauvignon Blanc and
serious Spätburgunder.
www.markgraf-von-baden.de
Family domaine with 24ha of own vines
and 12ha under contract, based in an
elegant 18th-century house. Flowery,
full-bodied and fully dry whites and
gorgeous Spätburgunders.
www.weingutbercher.de
Durbach, Ortenau
Burckheim, Kaiserstuhl
H Weingut Danner,
Durbach, Ortenau
H Weingut Huber,
Exciting natural wines (mainly
Spätburgunder) grown on 7ha.
Winemaker Alexander Danner has
three simple classifications: Type 1,
raised in stainless steel; Type 2, large
oak casks; Type 3, barriques.
http://danner-weingut.de
Malterdingen, Breisgau
The quality of this site was identified by
monks 700 years ago. Bernhard Hube
makes superb young-vine Pinot Noir
plus sensual Grosses Gewächs.
www.weingut-huber.com
H Weingut Dr Heger/Weinhaus
Kirchen, Markgräflerland
Heger Ihringen, Kaiserstuhl
Leading German estate with 23ha in
Grosses Gewächs (grand cru) volcanic
vineyards, 35ha grown on loess soils
and 16ha from the cooler calcareous
clay soils. www.heger-weine.de
H Weingut Ziereisen, EfringenHanspeter Ziereisen had two
Spätburgunders in the top 10 at a
recent international Pinot Noir tasting
in London. His 16ha family winery also
produces fragrant, fruit-driven
Gutedel. www.weingut-ziereisen.de
four- to five-day trip giving a good overview of what
Baden has to offer, you could combine the steep
vineyards of Ortenau (around Offenburg) in the
north with a spell in the sunbaked volcanic outcrop
of the Kaiserstuhl and neighbouring Breisgau (near
Freiburg) in the centre, and still have time left over
for the rolling Markgräflerland to the south.
There’s a range of wineries for all tastes and
budgets, from world-class names to new boutique
ventures, not forgetting the region’s many ambitious
co-operatives. Once installed in your hotel
(particularly if you’re planning several winery
➢
How to get there
By plane to BaselMulhouse-Freiburg or
Baden-Baden
By train to Freiburg
Getting around A Konus
travel card gives free
access to the region’s
excellent public transport
system www.blackforesttourism.com/konus
D E C A N T E R • J u n e 2012 | 139
TRAVEL: BADEN
Baden
WHERE TO STAY, SHOP, EAT AND RELAX
Superb fine-dining hotels, art & design museums and wine trails
‘Keep an eye
out for a fellow
summer
visitor, the
gregarious and
gloriously
coloured
bee-eater’
‘This is prime terroir for Pinot
Noir. Many growers admit to
Burgundian ambitions for their
wines, yet the wines have a
distinct personality of their own’
Photographs: Thomas Dix; blickwinkel/Alamy.
…to Kaiserstuhl
Further south, some of Baden’s most prized wines
come from the volcanic soils and sunbaked terraces
of the Kaiserstuhl between Freiburg and the Rhine.
This is prime terroir for the Pinot family. Many
growers admit to Burgundian aspirations, yet the
wines have a distinct personality of their own, and
you’re assured of a warm welcome and instructive
tasting at even the famous estates.
14 0 | J u n e 2 012 • D E C A N T E R
Ideal Kaiserstuhl base in VogtsburgOberbergen combining boutique
hotel, Michelin-starred restaurant,
gastropub, winery and wine import
business. www.franz-keller.de
Hotel Bareiss
Five-star, family-owned hotel in
Baiersbronn. Several restaurants
(including three-star Bareiss with
huge wine list and award-winning
sommelier Jürgen Fendt), great
buffet breakfast and state-of-theart spa. www.bareiss.com
Hotel-Restaurant
Traube
Michelin-starred restaurant in the
tiny village of Blansingen with
outstanding wine list and rooms.
www.traube-blansingen.de
Landgasthof Rebstock
Charming hotel-restaurant on the
main street of Sasbachwalden with
Badisch cooking served by
waitresses in traditional dress.
Well-priced wines, including from
noteworthy co-op Alde Gott.
www.engel-sasbachwalden.de
Above: Huber, Danner and
Bercher are three top
estates to visit in the region
(see box p139)
The energetic and/or those needing to work off
the extra weight that inevitably accompanies Baden
travel may want to earmark a day for hiking the
Kaiserstuhlpfad, a 21.5km trail that takes you into
the heart of the vineyards. (Sustain yourself with
the promise of coffee and cake at the end.) And if
your stay falls between May and September, keep an
eye out for a fellow summer visitor, the gregarious
and gloriously coloured bee-eater, who comes up
here from the south to nest – and feast on bees – in
the cool recesses of the Kaiserstuhl’s loess banks.
Further south, between Freiburg and the Swiss
border are the green, gently rolling vineyards and
orchards of the Markgräflerland. Here the typical
winery model combines vineyards with asparagus
beds, strawberry fields and cherry orchards. There’s
a move away from the traditional local grape,
Chasselas (known here as Gutedel), which gives
light, crisp, grapey whites, in favour of the Pinot
family, plus Syrah and Chardonnay, the best of them
grown on calcareous slopes facing the Rhine. Bring
your Baden explorations full circle with a glass of
Sekt in Hanspeter Ziereisen’s flower-filled courtyard
in Efringen-Kirchen, close to the Swiss border.
Hotel-Restaurant
Ritter
Left: the Vitra Design
Museum, an architechtural
complex in Weil-am-Rhein
designed by Frank Gehry
Below: the five-star Hotel
Bareiss in Baiersbronn
Classy Durbach hotel in a recently
revamped historic building with
glimpses of steep vineyards on
every side. Creative cuisine in
Michelin-starred restaurant and
Badisch/Alsatian dishes in the
bistro. www.ritter-durbach.de
sommelier with eclectic range
including top Baden names.
http://shop.wein-kreis.de
ACTIVITIES
Cassiopeia Thermal
Baths
Pretty country inn in Egringen with
a succinct wine list, asparagus in
spring, game in autumn, and a few
rooms. www.rebstock-egringen.de
Schlafen im Weinfass
Baden equals bathing, and
Badenweiler offers 3,800m2 of
gorgeous indoor and outdoor
pools with natural hot springs, four
different saunas, Roman-Irish bath
and countless spa treatments.
www.badenweiler.de
Hotel Engel
Above left: lush vineyards
surround Baden’s
Schloss Staufenberg
visits and don’t want to drive) ask about a Konus
travelcard, which gives free access to the region’s
well-served system of buses and trains.
Starting in the north in Ortenau, the beautiful
Badische Weinstrasse threads its way through a
string of picturesque villages, flanked on every side
by steeply planted vineyards, the main streets lined
with green-shuttered timbered houses with
cascades of clashing scarlet and pink geraniums.
Expect seriously structured Pinot Noir here, as well
as elegant, rapier-sharp Riesling (known locally as
Klingelberger), grown on steep granitic slopes.
Every village has its share of guesthouses and
hotels, whose dining rooms (many Michelinstarred) are cosily wood-panelled and staffed by
bustling waitresses in typical local costume.
HOTELS &
RESTAURANTS
Franz Keller
Schwarzer Adler
Have supper watching the sunset
over vines in Sasbachwalden then
snuggle up under a red-checked
duvet in a converted wine cask .
www.schlafen-im-weinfass.de
SHOPS
Geldermann
Privatsektkellerei
Electric biking
Tour the vineyards on an electric
bike, with strategic stops for
tastings and to recharge batteries
along the way. www.ihringen.de
Kaiserstuhlpfad
Traditional, bottle-fermented
sparkling wine made since 1904 in
vaulted cellars beneath the town of
Breisach. www.geldermann.de
Hardthof
21.5km hiking trail that starts in
Endingen or Ihringen and goes
through the heart of the
Kaiserstuhl vineyards – a regular
bus service at either end returns
you to your starting point. www.
schwarzwald-tourismus.info
Museum Frieder Burda
Luminous Richard Meier museum
in Baden-Baden where a modern
and contemporary art collection
alternates with visiting exhibits.
(Anselm Kiefer, William Copley,
Gerhard Richter etc.) www.
museum-frieder-burda.de
This farm shop is a favourite of top
chefs and local gourmets for
asparagus (white and green),
seasonal salads, vegetables and
fruit. www.hardthof-pfrengle.de
Weinhandlung Kreis
Stuttgart-based wine merchant
and online shop by former
Vitra Design Museum
Originally conceived to house the
Vitra design company’s furniture
collection, now an astonishing
architectural complex in Weil-amRhein (Frank Gehry, Tadeo Anda,
Zaha Hadid, Herzog & de Meuron
etc). www.design-museum.de
Sue Style is a food wine & travel writer based in Alsace
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