May Wine Walks

Bud break above the Zürichsee. Photo by Kathy.

If you like hiking and you like wine, spring is the perfect time to combine them, when winemakers all over German-speaking Switzerland open their doors for the Offene Weinkeller Deutschschweiz, May 1–5.








Take your pick: From Basel-Landschaft to the Graubünden, winery doors will be open at 11.00. The event's website gives a complete list of participants by region, with an interactive map for each area. Be sure to check the winemaker (Winzer) list for the exact opening dates, since some participants will only be open on May 5.

Bündner Herrschaft. Photo by tylonbrew.

Only an hour by train from Zürich, the Bündner Herrschaft region of Graubünden offers not only silky Pinot Noir wines that are reminiscent of Oregon's but also a rolling, gentle Weinwanderweg. The walk from Maienfeld to Malans is easy and leaves plenty of time for tasting. We loved the wines from Donatsch Winery in Malans on our last visit.

This year I think we'll head to the Biel/Bienne region and take the Bielersee Rebenweg, which runs along the lake from Biel/Bienne to Neuenstadt/La Neuveville. The trail takes about four hours (according to the Wanderland map), but if we get tired, there's always the Viniterra tasting center at the halfway point in Twann.

Bielersee Rebenweg. Photo by Wanderland.

Of course we don't even have to leave our home canton. Zürich boasts some great wineries (despite our less than ideal climate), and the Zürichsee Rundweg offers access to many of them in sections 8 and 9, from Stäffa to Küsnacht. However, this trail is not primarily a wine trail and getting to the wineries many mean some fairly vertical departures from the main trail. We might cheat and head straight to our favorite, Weingut Eric Meier, in Uetikon am See.

Happy trails!