Walking past a huge poster of the Saale Unstrut wine queen, I truely wonder why I didn’t come here much earlier!
The Saale Unstrut wine region is easily accessible from most parts of Germany, the city of Naumburg is the regions’ main town and can be easily reached by regional and inter city trains. From Berlin it is merely a two and a half hour train ride and you are right in the middle of rolling wine hills and rustic wine bars. How cool! So, knowing how to get there, what else is there to see and do? Enjoy my list!
1. Wine and walking: The winery in Bad Sulza and the wine walking trail
We stayed in a little pension in Bad Sulza (I must say we were so happy about the outside pool overlooking a castle) where the famous Saale Unstrut wine route starts with an impressive wooden gate. Some might call it tacky, for me it was at least a good reason to get the camera out of mye bag and start taking pictures. Through rolling wine hills we walked up to the Thüringer Weingut Bad Sulza where we sat in the shade of an old tree enjoying some local white wines. The whole walking trail can be accomplished in less than two hours, of course longer if you plan to drink a few wines in the winery.
2. The winery Uwe Lützkendorf in Bad Kösen
In terms of wine, Bad Kösen is a hidden gem along the river Saale. Beautifully located along the river, it boasts many great wineries that we were happy to visit. You can walk from one winery to the other along the river and enjoy the beautiful scenery. The winery owned by Uwe Lützkendorf (whose website and bottle designs recently experienced a welcome design update) was recommended to us by a friend from Berlin. When we arrived we were treated to some tangy Riesling and were happily adviced by the owner which wines to take home with us. Of course the advice didnt’t go without some delicious tastings! We will definitely come back in the future to enjoy the hospitality, the down-to-earth atmosphere and the great recommendations and stories by the owners.
3. Straußwirtschaft Steinmeister near Naumburg
On our last day, we visited the city of Naumburg, the cultural capital of the Saale Unstrut region, from where one can easily access the winegrowing areas along the river Saale. It’s roughly a 20 minutes walk from the train station to your first winebar. The walk leads you through a pleasant rural scenery with cornfields on one side and wine hills on the other. We happened to stumble upon the Straußwirtschaft (which is an open air wine bar only open for a few months during summer months) Der Steinmeister and were pleasantly surprised by the vast and spacious yard, the relaxed atmosphere and the great wines. Needless to mention that we couldn’t leave without a nice Riesling Spätlese that we later enjoyed with our dinner.
4. Wineshopping in the Weinladen am Dom in Naumburg
If you happen to arrive or end your trip in Naumburg, I definitely recommend to stop by at the wine shop close to the cathedral to speak to the owner. Besides having a great selection of local wines, he seems to know everything about wine in this region, the official and the inofficial stories – talking to him is like talking to a sommelier while reading the Gala or the OK Magazine at the same time. I loved it!
That’s it from me for now. I hope you enjoyed travelling with me to the Saale Unstrut wine region. Enjoy it even more when you go there yourselves!