Travel Questions for Northern Rhine vets

C

Christian Miller (CMM)

Christian Miller
Hi all. I'm heading to Dusseldorf to present some research at a conference next week, and will have a couple of extra days right after. I am pondering taking the train down to Rudesheim/Geisenheim/Mainz.

Which easily accessible wineries would you recommend visiting if possible?

Any particular brewery, wine bar or restaurant tips?

How about museums, historical sights, hikes/walks or fun off-beat stuff to do, bearing in mind I'm trying to avoid renting a car?

Any tips or contacts much appreciated...
 
originally posted by Christian Miller (CMM):
...I am pondering taking the train down to Rudesheim/Geisenheim/Mainz.

Which easily accessible wineries would you recommend visiting if possible?

...bearing in mind I'm trying to avoid renting a car?
Click to expand...

There are lots of wineries down there that are accessible by train (or maybe a short village bus ride to reduce your walk afterwards). Despite all the local contempt for the Deutsche Bahn, it gives you many options, by American standards.

I would think you could just look at some of the producers you like/are interested in, and see how accessible they are. So many options!

I had a work trip in Frankfurt last year and snuck in a visit to Thörle in Saulheim, walking from the train station. I'm a fan of their wines, fuller fruit than my usual palate, but with elegance and finesse. But options abound.
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
originally posted by Christian Miller (CMM):
...I am pondering taking the train down to Rudesheim/Geisenheim/Mainz.

Which easily accessible wineries would you recommend visiting if possible?

...bearing in mind I'm trying to avoid renting a car?
Click to expand...

There are lots of wineries down there that are accessible by train (or maybe a short village bus ride to reduce your walk afterwards). Despite all the local contempt for the Deutsche Bahn, it gives you many options, by American standards.

I had a work trip in Frankfurt last year and snuck in a visit to Thörle in Saulheim, walking from the train station. I'm a fan of their wines, fuller fruit than my usual palate, but with elegance and finesse. But options abound.
Click to expand...
Thanks; a bit off the Rhine line but sound like my kind of wines. Of course, the way things are going, anyone from the U.S. might get pelted with rocks stepping off the train. The content of my presentation isn't directly impacted by politics, but it seems like no aspect of life will remain unfucked by this gang of cretins.
 
The S-Bahn is a very good commuter line that connects various cities in the Frankfurt area: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhine-Main_S-Bahn. The contempt for DB that Rahsaan speaks of is for longer trips, and I've never had a problem with the S-Bahn.

Among other things, you can get to Hochheim where Künstler is making fabulous wines. Domdechant Werner is also there, and if you take a taxi, Joachim Flick is only a few km away and making wines well worth knowing.

There is a train from Wiesbaden that goes along many of the Rheingau towns; I've never taken it but I think it will give you access to many top producers within walking distance from the train stations, including P.J. Kühn, Wegeler, Spreitzer, all of whom are making great wines. Unfortunately, I think you probably can't get to Robert Weil, Kloster Eberbach (especially for the historic cloister, which is no longer where the wine is made), Schloss Johannisberg, Prinz, or Johannishof without a car or taxi, but if you have one, they are definitely worth the visit.

Lot of producers in Rüdesheim, but above all, Georg Breuer, which has extensive visiting facilities: https://georg-breuer.com/index.php?s=e_vinothek. Leitz is there, as well, although I'm not so wild about recent vintages. It's a big tourist town, so there surely are multiple locations where you can go to taste many producers at a time.

The Städel Museum in Frankfurt is less impressive than you would think for a city of Frankfurt's size and importance, but it is worth a few hours' time.

Mainz is the center of the Rheinhessen, but off the top of my head, I can't think of any producers located there. The Romanesque Cathedral is definitely worth the visit. There are local trains that would take you down to Nackenheim, Nierstein, Oppenheim, Dienheim, etc. where you can visit producers such as Gunderloch, Brüder Dr. Becker. Wittmann, Keller, Groebe, Winter, Wechsler, Dreissigacker are inland, so I'm not sure how easy it is to visit there via train, although IIRC, Keller is not far from a train station.

Check out the websites of the tourist agencies of the various towns, villages, etc., they will have plenty of information.

Sorry, no restaurant recommendations that I can think of right now.
 
In the Rheingau either Zum Krug or Adlerwirtschaft (both in Hattenheim) used to be very good options and from what I hear still are. Both with very good wine lists.
Regarding wineries, in addition to the above there are JB Becker in Walluf and en route in the Middle Rhine is Weingut Weingart with a rather quirky and idiosyncratic (in a good way) owner making interesting and inexpensive wines. Across the Rhine from the Rheingau is Saalwaechter, making red/white burgundies and silvaner, 2 mins from train station.

In Duesseldorf for beer and German food I do either Uerige https://maps.app.goo.gl/1i8zvQcc9FPT3Gw26
or Brauerei Schumacher. Concept Riesling in the Market on Carksplatz is a great wine bar for German wines. Closeby is also the Düsseldorfer Löwensenfladen where you can buy the famous local mustard super fresh.
I also love going to Manufactum where they sell all kinds of household goods, food, clothing etc all made in traditional ways and meant to last. All my American friends love the place. Manufactum.de

Nine o Five in Duesseldorf is a Pizza place that used to have an incredible wine list at very friendly prices. Still offering some extremely good German and non German options (inclusive KP Keller), but not as grand a list as before. https://starwinelist.com/wine-place/nineofive-duesseldorf-moltke

The castles along the Rhine are certainly worthwhile. For example the Marksburg in Braubach is a short walk from the train station. My favorite castle is Burg Eltz above the Moselle though, but that would be a longer hike.
Museums are excellent in both Dusseldorf and Cologne, depends what interests you.
 
One addition:
This is not a great food area. In contrast to the Southwest of Germany the likelihood of just picking a place on the go and have at least a solid meal with fun local wine is low.
I strongly recommend to check for example the listings in the following link using the map. This is a pretty good restaurant guide that also includes taverns and more traditional venues. Everything they have listed is a recommendation. Use the map function to check out your area, you will see the name and rating (no need really to subscribe, just take the name and google the place).

Loading…

www.gusto-online.de
 
Thanks for all the great recommendations. How widely and well spoken is English in retailers, restaurants, cafes etc? I can also do fine in French, but my German is non-existent.
 
English is ubiquitous for anyone under retirement age, at least anyone who went through the German school system. French won't do you any good.
 
originally posted by Claude Kolm:
English is ubiquitous for anyone under retirement age, at least anyone who went through the German school system. French won't do you any good.
Click to expand...

Let's call it "some" english. One should not expect fluent conversations but usually at least one person will be around to help figuring out what one wants.
 
originally posted by georg lauer:
One addition:
This is not a great food area. In contrast to the Southwest of Germany the likelihood of just picking a place on the go and have at least a solid meal with fun local wine is low.
Click to expand...

Yes
 
Thanks to all for the ideas and recommendations, some of which I actually had time to do!

I spent 4 days in Düsseldorf, 1 of them at the Meininger's conference presenting research, another at Prowein. Then took trains down to Mainz, then Rüdesheim, then back to Dusseldorf and the airport.

Yes, the trains indeed don't quite run on time but they were never very late, in fact I found routine lateness of 5-15 minutes rather relaxing. And they keep you informed on the delays, the number of trains is copious and the local trains are quite cheap. All in all quite convenient.

Dusseldorf is an interesting town, with a nice old section, several very posh avenues with upscale stores, a modern tech-ish office and shopping area, a lovely small ceramics museum and a good light rail system. The Carlsplatz market is terrific, including one stand with something like 60 different types of potato, some excellent food stands and charcuteries, and (thank you Georg Lauer) the excellent Concept Riesling wine bar/shop, which was very jolly. They poured me a few good tastes including a 2015 GG from magnum and several wines from the Ahr along with an explanation of the region, which I knew nothing of previously. And thanks again Georg, Manufactum is a very entertaining store which provided several fun gifts to lug home.

Prowein is insane, I had no idea how immense it was. 15 different halls the size of football fields, filled with wineries, regional organizations and supplier companies. First thought is who the hell is going to buy all this wine? Weirdly enough, I ran into several people from regions in the U.S. who I had not run across when I was actually in their backyards over the past two years. I had some very interesting wines from Slovenia, South Africa and SW France in my meanderings, although due to a couple of meetings I did not have much time for tasting. More about them in a TN posting later.

On the advise of Georg and another acquaintance, I enjoyed the altbier at Uerige, along with some impossibly filling traditional food featuring a mustard crusted pork shank on a mashed cabbage-potato mixture spiked with herbs and bacon (it actually served as two meals). For someone whose idea of beer towns are Brussels or Portland, beer is confusingly simple in Dusseldorf breweries - there's altbier (old style, med-dark with moderate malt and light hops) or weissebier, sometimes a pilsner or schwarzbier on draft, and a few other types by bottle, and that's it. But the beer was good and the patrons friendly, despite the tariff and NATO-wrecking madness at the helm of our country.

Mainz has a delightful partly restored old town, impressive if heavy Romanesque cathedral, lighter Church of St. Stephens with beautiful Chagall windows. Alas, the Gutenberg and ancient ship museums were both closed on the day I was there.

I visited Schloss Vollrads and (thanks Claude and Georg) Breuer, both making superb wines, which I'll also post on in a TN: later. Breuer also owns a restaurant called Rüdesheimer Schloss where I had my best meal of the trip.

As per this thread's advice, English is quite widely and well spoken in the region. Interestingly, no locals in Dusseldorf spoke any French as far as I could tell, but a couple people in Mainz were more comfortable in French than English.

Vielen Dank.
 
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