Alsace Wine Tour 2023 – Mittelbergheim to Blienschwiller
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Mittelbergheim to Spitz et Fils
When we wake at the Parking de Zotzenberg we know it is going to be hot and sunny again. At 8.30am Grandma Wittman arrives with our wine and is happy to lift the boxes out of her car, Alan takes them and loads them into Hymer.
We walk across the road and take the ‘Art Walk’ through the grape vines up to the ridge and look down into the next valley… acres more Alsace grapevines, as far as the eye can see. The Art Walk is a signposted route with large graphic panels encouraging people to draw and paint the scenes they see. Walking along the top of the ridge, we can look down on our left side into Mittelberheim towards the village and the cemetery and the next village of Andlau. On our right we can see across the valley towards Barr and the Chateau de Haut Andlau built high on the mountain top above the village of the same name.
The vines are well tended, each alternate row is ploughed to keep the weeds down, we pass a farmer with horse and single plough carefully turning over the soil next to the vines. All of these have been ruthlessly pruned in the spring their long tendrils now growing strongly, some with bunches of grapes the size of peppercorns. Back at the Hymer we have coffee and reflect it is a great way to see the vines and the villages.
At 11.45 we walk down into the village to the cellar of Patrick Schwab who we visited last year. He remembers us and welcomes us in. We sample most of his wines because they are very good. He speaks German better than French but we get along fine between our three languages. He does not make Crémant and refers to the process as fabrication not elaboration. We buy his litre bottles of Sylvaner and Auxerois, and bottles of Reisling and Pinots Gris.
We are very pleased with our purchases. We have lunch when we get back to Hymer and then leave our lovely spot by the cemetery moving ten miles south onto the D35, the Route des Vin d’Alsace. We stop at the next village of Itterswiller, it is hot and sunny about 28°C. Parking on the road at the edge of town we see a motorhome parked and wander down to investigate, it is Aire de Repos du Shertnezt and would make a good overnight stop. We walk through the village which is very pretty with flowers, Austrian-style houses with pots and many wine tasting cellars, again many are closed over lunch. No matter, we enjoy the town and know it is a good place to return to another time.
Back on D35 through Nothalten where the road to Blienschwiller is closed due to roadworks. We take a diversion to Dambach la Ville and enjoy the quaintness and richness of this old French walled village, accessed through the stone arch 4m high. It has all the essentials: narrow streets, market square, lavoir, Maire with pillars and many flowers and fountains. We decide to return to Blienschwiller and visit Spitz and Fils (last there in July 2018). At Spitz and Fils you can stay in your camping cars on the grass behind the winery, so we park up and book a wine tasting at 6.30pm. In between times we snack on thinly cut baguette with hummus and olives.
We spend a pleasant hour and a half with Mrs Spitz and tell her about our visit in 2018 with her older son. Later her younger son comes in with his little boy of about a year old, a bright and animated child who does not miss anything! We buy another 18 bottles (12 Sylvaner, Auxerois, Reisling and Pinot Gris) plus Crémant. Purchasing wine direct from the vintner is always rewarding because you are buying direct from the producer. Prices are normally reasonable, and you are buying wines that are produced in relatively modest quantities, so these wines will never be on the supermarket shelves. Each wine is distinctive and has its own character.
Back in Hymer we eat chicken fried rice and dates and have an early night.
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