Back to Bergheim
As our return stay in France grinds to a halt, I am going back to some of my favourite wine walks. And Bergheim is top of the list for me in Alsace.
Riquewihr and Kaysersberg might have lots more obvious beauty. But Bergheim has lots more understated beauty, and its wine walking potential is unrivaled.
As to the town, Bergheim is a completely fortified town and has a late-medieval church, as well as surviving towers and walls. The entire population was wiped out by two wars and the plague in the 17th-18th centuries.
To replace the population, thousands of people from other countries were invited to immigrate to Bergheim. The majority of people who immigrated at that times were Swiss, German, Hungarian, Austrian, or Romanian.
Last time I discovered a wonderful walking trail just by looking around at the top of town. So this time, I redid the same walk, but went further. The walk involved walking up a ridge of vineyards and then following the ridge around a good distance until I came upon a wonderful old chateau/house.
Coming back to Bergheim for lunch, I had my favourite flaming pie — Flammekueche (Alsatian), Flammkuchen (Standard German), or tarte flambée (French).
I then did a little tasting at Gustave Lorentz. Bergheim has spectacular wines, and is well known for its riesling, pinot gris and gewurztraminer.
It boasts two Grands Crus, Altenberg and Kanzlerberg, of which I tasted their riesling. Thanks to global warming Gustave Lorentz is now growing more pinot noir for making red wine.
Since June prefers red wine, I tasted their two versions. Very good, so I bought one of each. As a backpacker, I can’t carry too much wine.
I was interested to learn that sparkling wines, “Crémant”, now account for 25% of Alsace wine production. Being of good quality, and competitive prices, they offer Champagne healthy competition.