Wine-tasting in the vineyards of Schriesheim

Germany is not only famous for its well-known beer culture but has also some very characteristic wine regions. One of them is “Baden”, Germany's third biggest wine region. The "Badische Bergstrasse" is one district of these regions and surrounds Heidelberg. On a hot, humid and sunny afternoon we had an excursion to the vineyards of Schriesheim, where we visited the "Winzergenossenschaft Schriesheim" (cooperative wine-growers association) for having a wine-tasting in the picturesque vineyards there.

The sampling consisted of different types of regional wine such as "Spätburgunder" (Pinot Noir), "Grauburgunder" (Pinot Gris) or Gewürztraminer. We tried to recognise and describe the range of perceived flavours and aromas that are characteristic for the different wines. A staff member of the association took the time to answer all the questions about wine-making. 

He explained how wine-making generally works and how the different types of wine differ from each other in terms of taste, colour, harvesting, grapes etc.

Most of the students haven't done a wine-tasting before. Now they learned that you don't necessarily have to be a wine connoisseur to identify all the different wines. We also learned something about German wine classification, wine culture, consumption, the soil, storage, packaging and the fermentation process. Fresh cheese and German bread, typical for German wine tastings, made the sampling perfect.

In the end everybody was convinced that German wine does not have to hide behind French, Spanish or Italian wines. Almost everybody bought some bottles of wine to share it with their family and friends back home.