Coming home from Bergheim yesterday, we saw a banner posted on a fence announcing a Porte Ouverte this weekend in Beblenheim. Now that sounded like something we should do. A porte ouverte is a winery open house, with free tastings, food, and activities. They're always fun.
To fill the other half of the day we will visit Hohlandsbourg castle. The crew (minus me) found this on their castle jaunt last week. But they didn't visit it because they found it is handicapped accessible and I could visit it with them. So today's the day.
First stop was Beblenheim for the Porte Ouverte. The Cave de Beblenheim is a medium sized cooperative located right in the middle of town. As has been our practice, we arrived at 10:30, just half an hour after its opening. We found parking right near the entrance where a worker was handing out glasses for tasting and a sheet with the program of the day. Most of the locals arrive around lunch time and by that time we are ready to leave.
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| We picked up our tasting glasses at the entrance |
As expected, there were only a few people mingling, most of them workers when we first entered. Workers had set up a tent over some picnic tables, a stage for music, and a tasting counter. Food trucks offering plates from Madagascar, Japan, a local brasserie, and an ice cream vendor were set up around the court and just beginning to prepare their lunch offerings.
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| Kim entering the courtyard where the porte ouverte is taking place. |
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| Clark was attracted like a magnet to the tasting tent! |
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| Panorama of the courtyard |
Inside the tasting and sales room was less busy than the outside tasting area.
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| Entrance to the tasting and sales room. |
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| Janis in the tasting room |
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| A very impressive tasting room!@ |
There were many wine-oriented offerings during the day, including a bus trip to a Grand Cru vineyard for tasting. Another was a guided walk in the nearby vineyards with tasting, and a third offered a tour of the cave itself. This last sounded appealing to the group, so they went off on the 11:00 tour.
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| Bottles of crémant ready for their final processing |
The bottles of crémant go through a completely mechanized process at a rate of 6000 bottles per hour. First they are turned upside down, followed by flash freezing the neck, turning the bottles right side up, popping the bottle cap, removing the frozen yeast plug, adding a bit of wine to that now empty space, then corking, wiring the cork, adding the foil sleeve over the cork, labeling each bottle, and finally packing them in cartons for shipping and sales. Amazingly complex - using a lot of robotics - and costly. That explains why so few wine growers can make and bottle their own wines.
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| Just the necks of the bottles are flash frozen which allows the yeast plug at the top of the bottle to be removed in another process. |
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| corking and wiring the bottles |
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| labeling the bottles |
While they were touring, I went back outside. More people have arrived and clearly know each other as neighbors. There was a party atmosphere and a band was tuning up to start playing at 11:30. When they started playing, they were singing American 60s rock - in English. Right up my alley.
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| the band warming up |
The group returned shortly after 11:00 and we headed back to the car to get out our lunch. There was a picnic table right next to our car and a WC just at the end of this courtyard. Next stop: Hohlandsburg Castle in Wintzenheim.
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| Hohlandsbourg Castle |
Despite being on top of one of the higher peaks around us, this castle has a road leading right up to its gate with handicapped parking available. After paying the entrance cost, we walked through the portcullis gate and into a large courtyard.
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| looking over the ramparts at the parking lot below |
Surrounded by high walls, turrets, and ramparts, this castle looks impregnable. (But it was destroyed in the 30 Years War. (1618-1648)
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| Clark's picture of the courtyard taken from the ramparts |
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| view of the castle courtyard |
The castle rises out of the granite stone itself and I wondered how they could even build it like that.
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| The stones start by filling up the uneven crevices between the rocks |
Visiting the ramparts is amazing. Besides their views down on the castle, there are magnificent panoramas from every side of this perched castle. Imagine if it weren't hazy!
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| Dave taking a photo from the ramparts |
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| Looking over the ramparts, we think at Turckheim |
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| Dave's panorama of Hohlandsbourg Chateau |
Having seen all we could, we zig-zagged our way down the mountain and back home. One more successful day in the books.
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