Tag Archives: wine museum

Alsace

Strasbourg’s annual wine extravaganza! Part two

Now that I’ve described the hotel, on with the rest of the trip. I was actually kind of dreading trying to find dinner on Friday night. I used to wait tables, so I know what dining out on Valentine’s Day can be like, both for wait staff and patrons. We were unable to make dinner reservations anywhere special, so I had a feeling dinner would be spectacularly un-special. And that’s what ultimately came to pass…

But before dinner, we were keen to visit the The Historic Wine Cellar at Strasbourg Hospices. My German friend, Susanne, told me about this historic wine cave, which was created in the year 1395. The cellar was used for storing wine, but it was also used for storing other perishables like grain. Today, visitors can visit the caves free of charge and pick up a bottle or two of wine. Very old wines are stored there now, including three historic barrels dating from 1472, 1519, and 1525. The barrel from 1472 even still has 350 liters of wine from 1472 in it– the oldest in the world aged in a barrel. It’s only been served three times in five centuries:

  • In 1576 to Zurich, when the Swiss proved that they could come quickly to help their friends in Strasbourg.
  • in 1718 for the reconstruction of the main building ravaged by a fire two years prior.
  • in November 1944 to General Philippe Leclerc de Hautecloque, liberator of the city of Strasbourg.

In 1994, the wine was tested by local oenologists who determined that even though the wine is over 500 years old, it’s still wine, and in fact, has “a very beautiful bright, very amber color, a powerful nose, very fine, of a very great complexity, aromas reminiscent of “Vanilla, honey, wax, camphor, fine spices, hazelnut and fruit liquor …” I wonder how much longer they’re going to age it and what made them decide to keep that particular wine for so long!

Bill and I took a taxi to visit the museum, because Bill thought maybe we’d be tasting some wine there. Alas, wine tastings are only done for special events. However, we did enjoy some beer after our visit to the cave. Here are some photos of the museum.

We passed the Russian consulate.
The cab driver dropped us here. It took a few minutes to find the cave.
Goethe was here…
Here’s the place, on the other side of the big gate.
This was on southern side of the cave. Only 50 meters remain…
of what used to be an underground passageway all over Strasbourg.
Many huge barrels…
The wine from 1472 is behind bars.
500 years old!
Le Magnum!
Impressive wine press.
Guest book!
This tower was picturesque, but smelled of pee… despite France’s lovely tradition of providing free public toilets.

We really enjoyed our visit to see the historic wines. If we had driven to the museum, we probably would have picked up a few bottles of their current wines, too. Maybe if we go back to Strasbourg, we’ll stop in again. Incidentally, the cave is closed on Sundays and public holidays. If you visit, you can either read the signs, as we did, or get a headset, which will provide more information and stories about the history of the wine cave and its relation to the historic hospital complex. It doesn’t take long to see this attraction. We were there maybe a half hour, and that was because we were reading everything, taking pictures, and going slowly. It’s still pretty cool to visit there, though.

After our visit to the museum/cave, we decided to find ourselves some beer in town. We didn’t have to walk far before we reached our first destination, a bar called La Taverne des Serruriers/ La Schloss Brasserie. More on that in the next post.

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Annoyances, Baden-Württemberg

No parking equals no wine museum…

Bill and I had big plans today.  We hoped to check out the wine museum in Stuttgart.  It’s located about an hour from our house in Unterjettingen, not too far from Esslingen.

Unfortunately, when we got to the cute little town where the museum is, there was absolutely no parking to be found.  We drove around for awhile, but it was to no avail.  No one was budging.  Bill had to pee and I was rapidly losing patience with trying to find a place to park our Mini, so we decided to head to Panzer so I could pick up some mascara and other stuff.

When we were done with Panzer, we went to the Auld Rogue.  We had gotten out of the habit of visiting the American community’s favorite Irish restaurant, probably because we try to find stuff to do rather than visiting AAFES.  But we have a cruise coming up and I needed a few odds and ends.

The Auld Rogue was pretty dead when we got there at about 1:30pm, although there was one guy at the bar holding court.  He was talking to a waitress I had not seen before.  I heard her say she’s from Manchester, England.  Of course, Nick the head guy was also there.

We started with a round of Guinness…

I had fish and chips and Bill had the chicken Caesar wrap, which looked pretty good.  I was surprised by the mushy peas.  I don’t remember those being offered last time I had fish and chips at The Auld Rogue.  The chips were good… kind of greasy, yet crispy.  I like ’em that way sometimes.

We were on our second round when a bunch of people showed up.  Bill was enjoying the beer of the week, which was a local brew from Kraftbierwerkstatt called Awesome Amber.  It was very peachy and quite tasty, even if it came in a small glass.

 

The group that came in was eyeing our table and I heard one woman say, “Those people are leaving.” I’ll admit, the spiteful side of me was very tempted to order whisky just to be bitchy.  I’m pretty sure she at least got the stinkeye, because sometimes I really am bitchy… especially when someone’s lurking at my table in a restaurant where there are plenty of other tables to be had.  No one’s name was on the one we were occupying, nor do I like to be rushed.  Bill was really enjoying watching my facial expressions.  After fifteen years, he’s pretty good at translating them.

I was ready to go, though.  The music that was playing today was getting on my nerves…  reminded me of a bunch of different U2 knockoffs.  I kept Shazaming them to see what the bands were and they were all different, yet sounded the same– kinda like U2 post Y2K.  Also, I was getting tired of unintentionally eavesdropping on the guy who was at the bar, chatting up the bartender and letting everyone else in on his conversation about co-ops in Virginia.  Just by sitting there in the dining room, I learned that he and his wife couldn’t eat all the fruits and vegetables they were given thanks to the co-op.  I also learned that they’re selling their house and his wife is back in the States trying to expedite the process.  And no, we weren’t talking to the guy or in any way involved in his conversation… he just had a voice that carried and didn’t seem to notice or care that he was addressing all of us.

On the way out of the bar, we ran into one of Bill’s former co-workers who is about to depart Germany and move to his wife’s native country, Canada, after they spend a month touring around the UK and seeing friends and family.  They always have their sweet dog with them wherever they go.  He will also be joining them on the Queen Mary II as they cross the Atlantic on a cruise.  I will miss seeing them and their dog, who is super chill and very well-behaved.  I wish ours were that good in public.  The Queen Mary II is the only cruise ship that I know of that has a capacity for dogs.

We stopped and chatted with them for a few minutes and wished them a good cruise… as we are about to go on a cruise ourselves.  I don’t know that we’ll ever cruise with our dogs, but I’m glad the option exists.  I hope they enjoy themselves.  I have always wanted to do a transatlantic cruise, but it looks like it costs between $800 and $1000 per dog.  That’s a lot of bread before you’ve even paid your fare (s)!

We will get to the wine museum someday.  Maybe we’ll go later in the day or try on a weekday.  It was not happening when we were there this afternoon, though.  What a bummer.

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