Germany: Wine Festivals..now is the time

If you are visiting any of the wine regions in Germany during the month of September, be sure to visit a wine festival or two, or even three. These ‘fests’ generally feature the top wines or sekts (sparkling wines) from the region. On two consecutive weekends, 30 to 40 local vinters set-up small stands in their towns, villages and even smaller cities so that visitors can sample their wine. Wine aficionados (read: real drinkers) bring their own glasses – tied by the stem to a leather thong which is worn around the neck. (My question: Are they just well-prepared [‘have glass will drink’] OR do they just want to avoid paying the 5€ pfand [return glass deposit]???)

Wine fests are not only a fun way to sample the various wines of the region, but also to see how ‘the other half lives’ (that is, people our age - middle-age, baby-boomers, mature adults). Trust me, they live pretty well. In Germany, people our age have full social calendars and wine fests are just one of a wide variety of autumn activities.  If you want to get to know the locals, this is a great place to strike up a conversation.  

As you drive through the wine areas, you will see numerous stands and even restaurants offering ‘Neuer Wein’ (new wine - Federweisser). This wine - which is made from ‘must’ (freshly fermented pressed grape juice) - is yellowish in color and is quite tasty, especially when served with Zweibelkuchen (onion cake). However, I must offer a few words of caution: 1. Keep the bottles upright because the screw caps never fit securely and the wine (which attracts zillion of tiny flies) leaks out. 2. Never drink more than 1 bottle per night.  As the Germans say, new wine will ‘clean your clock’ (laxative-wise)!!