Tag Archives: wine tasting

Sundays

Wine tasting in Weil der Stadt…

I woke up this morning thinking that Bill and I would be tasting beer today in Gärtringen, hence our decision to eat burgers there this afternoon.  As it turned out the beer tasting was to include food, which we knew we couldn’t enjoy after a very good lunch at Buffalo Grill and Bar.  Fortunately, my German friend Susanne told me about a wine tasting going on in Weil der Stadt.  This event, which happens every year, is a celebration of a “sisterhood” between the Alsatian town of Riquewihr and Weil der Stadt.  Although Bill and I  have been to Riquewihr, we had not been to Weil der Stadt/Merklingen prior to today.

As it turned out, we were the only Americans there during our visit.  The festival opened at 2:00pm and will run until midnight tonight. Six vintners from Riquewihr are there to sell their wines.  You can enjoy a tasting, have a full glass or two, or simply enjoy a bite to eat.  We heard that later this evening, there will also be live music.  The festival will also be going on tomorrow from 11:00am until 5:00pm.  Fortunately, I believe the beer tasting is also going on tomorrow.  We’ll probably go there tomorrow for some suds.

They had the flags out…

The doors opened promptly at 2:00pm, so we were left with a little time to kill.

We were among the first people to arrive, so I took a few shots of the inside of the festival.  Six tables are set up and each vintner has several different types of wines for sale.  You can get your pinot blanc, riesling, or pinot noir, along with muscat, gerwurztraminer, and cremant.  We ended up tasting a whole lot of wine… and left with 23 bottles of wine.  Prices are great!

A tasting glass will cost 2 euros for a pfand.  Turn it in and you get your euros back.  

If you want to eat, there is food provided by a local restaurant.  We were still full from lunch, so we didn’t eat.  I saw a lot of people enjoying lunch there.  One group was even celebrating a birthday.

The stage is set for later.  I have a feeling things will get busy tonight.

 

As we were tasting wine, a lady approached with a camera.  She was from the local newspaper.  She did take several pictures of me, so I won’t be surprised if I show up in a paper somewhere.  People seemed surprised to see us there and wanted to know how we knew about the wine festival.  I told them about my German friend who is in the know.  They seemed surprised that we’d drive out there just to enjoy some French vino.  I say it was well worth the trip, especially since we couldn’t make it to Strasbourg for the big festival.

I have a feeling we won’t need wine for awhile…

This was a really fun event.  Parking is free and plentiful, the toilets are clean and free, and I surprised myself by understanding a lot of what was being said.  The lady at the last table we hit happened to speak English very well and she was very interested in what we are doing here.  I’m sure I said more than I should have… but we did leave her table with seven bottles of wine and a business card, so I’m sure that’s all that matters.

There’s still plenty of time to visit the tasting today if you are inclined… and tomorrow, there will also be wine flowing.  If you like Alsatian wines, I highly recommend a visit!

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Our first visit to Jacques’ Wein Depot in Ludwigsburg

For several reasons, Bill and I had occasion to go to Ludwigsburg today.  First, we had a hail and farewell to attend for his company.  It was held at the very nice MWR run Stuttgart Golf Club in Kornwestheim.  Bill was originally supposed to get there early for a round of golf, but he was too tired after yesterday’s festivities at the Canstatter Volksfest.  He’s also not a golfer and knew that if he played today, I’d be sitting home alone all day.  We compromised and showed up at 1:00 for a nice lunch with his work buddies.

A shot of the golf course.  It’s pretty nice.  Maybe it’s time Bill learned how to play.  The club in Kornwestheim has a nice restaurant along with a biergarten.

After lunch, we stopped by Heinrich’s drink market to drop off some empty beer bottles and pick up some more suds.  On the way out of Heinrich’s, I realized that it was still before 4:00pm, which told me that Jacques’ Wein Depot was still open.  We had passed this location of the small wine store several times, but we’d never had a chance to stop.  Usually, we’re in Ludwigsburg too late in the day on Saturdays.  Today, thanks to the hail and farewell, we got there with 45 minutes to spare!

I’d been curious about Jacques’ Wein Depot for awhile, especially since I started the Stuttgart food and wine lovers Facebook group.  I wanted to see if it’s the kind of place I’d like to recommend to others.  Now, having had a chance to drop by, I can say that this chain store is definitely a great place to visit if you like your wine.  Here’s a link to their main Facebook page, though individual locations also have pages.

The first Thursday of every month is Weinabend at the Wein Depot in Ludwigsburg!

 

First thing’s first.  Bill and I were (and still are) pretty tired because we partied hard yesterday.  Consequently, when we first entered the store, we noticed they had a couple of tasting stations set up, but we couldn’t find clean glasses.  We felt pretty dumb when the sales guy pointed the the racks of glasses hanging over the stations.  I tried a few wines and determined there were a few I wanted to take home with me.  Had I wanted to, I could have dropped a serious load of euros in that store.  Behind the wine tasting stations, there were more bottles of wine that had obviously been tested.  A whole rack of them!  And they were being sold at very reasonable prices.

Taste away!  They make it easy at Jacques’ Wein Depot.

I was intrigued by this Chilean white.  I ended up bringing home a bottle.

 

I kind of wish I’d gotten some of this Chilean red.  I think I was put off because it was being sold in a box.  My parents used to buy Franzia wine in boxes all the time and I always thought it was kind of lowbrow.  I know now that’s not the case, but old prejudices sometimes die hard.

 

They even had little snacks to try.  I noticed that there were several gourmet items for sale, like pastas, oils, and sauces.

There are quite a few locations of Jacques’ Wein Depot in the Stuttgart area.  The one closest to us is in Böblingen, which means I may have to break down and visit sometime soon.

Now that we’ve found Jacques’ Wein Depot, we’ll surely be back.  But that’s one of the nice things about living here in the Stuttgart area.  There are so many places to buy nice wines at good prices.

 

All in all, it’s been a busy and productive day.  I think tonight, we’ll sit back and watch CHiPs on iTunes.  I am a child of the 70s and 80s, after all, and that Frank Poncherello looks great in his tight pants.

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Max’s Wine Dive…

Yesterday, Bill and I decided to go to Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods.  Both of those stores happen to be near each other and a place called Max’s Wine Dive.  This small Texas chain pairs casual food with wine.  We had heard about it from one of Bill’s friends and since we were hungry, we decided to stop in for a bite to eat.

As it turned out, they were having a wine tasting paired with Thanksgiving themed “snacks”.  For $35 each, we could have all we wanted to eat or drink… granted, we were tasting wines, so the samples were small.  Come to think of it, so were the food pickings.  There were small plates with turkey, sweet potatoes, stuffing, and gravy stacked into piles, a brussels sprouts casserole of some kind, and pumpkin pie.  I didn’t eat that much, but I did enjoy the wines and chatting with the very friendly wait staff offering tastes of an impressive variety of wines.  A guitar player and singer was jamming in the corner.  He was doing some good covers of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Supertramp tunes.

Bill and I didn’t take any wine home from Max’s Wine Dive because we thought they were a bit overpriced, even with a case discount.  But it was a fun way to spend a cloudy afternoon.  I’d go back.

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