Читать книгу The Rhine Cycle Route. From source to sea through Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands онлайн

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Swiss wine is one of the wine-drinking world’s great secrets. Substantial quantities of good-quality wine are produced but 98 per cent of this is consumed within the country. Most production is in the Vaud and Valais cantons in the west of the country, although on our route there are vineyards in the Maienfeld hills (Stage 3) and between Schaffhausen and Waldshut (Stage 7). Principal grape varieties are chasselas (white) used for Fendant wine, and pinot noir or blauburgunder (red) used for Dôle wine. German wine production is usually characterised by white wine from the Rhine Valley between Worms and Koblenz, including the side valleys of Nahe and Mosel. The finest German wine comes from the Rheingau, a south-facing ridge between Eltville and Rüdesheim (Stage 16). Reisling grapes are used for the best wines with müller-thurgau for the less distinguished ones. Trochen (dry) and halb-trochen (medium) varieties are available. Other wine-growing regions passed include the north side of Bodensee around Meersburg (Stage 5), which produces white and rosé wines, and the Ahr Valley (Stage 18), producing some of the world’s most northerly red wines. In France, the east-facing Vosges slopes looking across the Rhine Valley from above Colmar produce strong full-bodied Alsatian white wine from gewürztraminer grapes.