The Middle Mosel Wine Festival, which happens on the first weekend of September is simply like nothing I've ever experienced. Bernkastel-Kues is a picture-perfect German wine town,which bursts at the seams with happy crowds, fueled by Riesling from the grape's ancestral home. Friday night and Saturday, the streets are set up along the Mosel with pavillionsto taste from each of the neighborhoods in the Middle Mosel, like Graacher-Himmelreich, Uziger Wurzgarten, etc. and amazing food stalls with Salmon roasting on planks over an open fire, apple fritters, flammkuchen (German Pizza) and lots of great wursts, pretzels, and pastries. Each wine stall has a number of winemaker representatives, or the winemakers themselves, pouring killer rieslings for around 1.50 to 2 Euros a glass. Higher end wines tend to be a bit more, but none more than about 6 Euros a glass --and that was for Beerenauslese! Saturday night has fireworks over the Schloss (Castle) on the hill overlooking the town, and everyone gathers on the bridge over the Mosel to watch.
Sunday is parade day where winemakers are celebrated with bands and floats --each float with a crew pouring Riesling to the crowds. Hold out your glass, it gets filled up with Riesling!
I'm heading to the festival again this year and will post more from the event. I'm also tasting for a couple of days after the festival in the Mosel and Nahe. Stay tuned.
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