2026-04-30 Wine Tasting near home

Everyone's exhausted from our explorations and going to bed early is not fixing the problem. So, today is meant to be an easy day. We were slow to organize in the morning and by the time the boys went to the épicerie, there were only 2 croissants left. Janis, our morning master scrambled egg maker, refreshed these in the oven to crisp them up and Clark cut them each into pieces. Janis also made some of the bacon we had purchased a week ago. It's very thick, but Janis was nevertheless able to make the bacon crispy and delicious. One piece is sufficient to fill our bacon tummies.

Dave suggested a trip to nearby Husseren-les-chateaux to visit Les Trois Chateaux d'Equisheim which are 3 ruined castle towers on top of the hill. 

Walking up to the first tower

The first tower

The second and third towers

The third tower

Looking over the valley below

Colmar in the valley below les trois chateaux

Dave suspects these were all connected into one castle but are a short distance apart from each other in their ruined state. Since these are not accessible, I stayed at the house and Clark stayed to keep me company. (He had another goal: finding an afternoon wine-tasting)

After exploring the 3 castles, the crew drove to Chateau de Hohlandsbourg. This castle has an accessible road to it and is accessible to visit, so everyone decided to return another day when Lynn and Clark were also part of the party.

Entrance to the Chateau de Hohlandsbourg

The castle crew were back around 1 pm after stopping for more strawberries.  

Kim buying strawberries from our local producer

Lunch finished, it's on to wine-tasting. Clark has booked a Monday wine-tasting at a vineyard recommended by their Bordeaux tour guide. But for today, it was decided to drive to Pfaffenheim, just 15 minutes west of Logelheim to the wine cave of Francois Flesch. They offered free tasting and were open today. 

Flesch winery

looking toward some vineyards of Flesch winery

We arrived, parked and then searched for the "dégustation et vente" (tasting and sales) sign. Once found, instructions told us to ring a bell to get someone's attention. This is common as wineries like this one are family operated and all hands are likely to be in the vineyards. When we got no response from ringing the bell, I called the phone number posted on the door and soon a woman arrived to let us into the tasting room. 

The Flesch family have owned this winery for 3 generations now and indeed the family were out in the vineyards trimming vines. We first tasted a dry Crémant d'Alsace. Crémant is the term applied to any bubbly French wine that is not produced in Champagne. Next we tried a Muscot, a pinot noir rosé, and finally a pinot noir. 

Our wine tasting crew: Dave, Lynn, Dale, Kim, Janis, Clark

With 6 bottles in hand and more time left in the afternoon, we decided to check out the town's wine coop. 

Janis walking toward the coop caves

The Cave des Vignerons de Pfaffenheim is a large cooperative. We were told that it has 100 members of which only 30 are full time wine growers. The others, usually owners of small plots of land, have day jobs to make ends meet. The coop has its own wine-maker who oversees the blending of the wines to maintain their quality and all wines here are blends of grapes from different, but same type and quality, vineyards. 

The sales/tasting room is large, inviting and beautifully decorated.

Our tasting guide is enthusiastic, friendly, and very knowledgeable. She has only been working in the tasting room for a year, but for 10 years before had worked in the vineyards. She could answer all our questions and offered us side by side tastings of different qualities of the same wine. 

Side by side tastings of 3 different Pinot Noir wines

We spent a good hour tasting wines and came home with another 8 bottles of wine. The Black Tie wines (Crémant d'Alsace - Brut and Riesling/Pinot Gris) were special blends create by the coop, while the wine labeled La Griffe du Diable is an oaked Pinot Noir. Wines labeled 1957 (the year the coop was started) were AOP Riesling and Pinot Noir. We had so much fun (and learned so much) that I expect we'll visit again with other friends.

Dave and Janis made chili for dinner which we ate late after light aperos. And we were all in bed early - even Dave.