PROGRAM DAY 1

08.30 am Departure from Amsterdam
11.00 am St. Martinus Winery in Vijlen
03.00 pm Weingut Van Volxem in Wiltingen
06.00 pm check-in in Trier
08.00 pm Dinner in Trier

Our bus will depart from Amsterdam. On our way to Germany we will make a stop-over in Vijlen, South Limburg to visit St. Martinus Winery run by winemaker Stan Beurskens. Architect Ben Levels, together with landscape architect Kas Slijpen, designed a building that harmoniously integrate the hillside and natural surroundings. After a short tour we continue our trip and visit the Scharzhofberg in one of the coldest wine regions in the world, the Saar, a tributary of the Mosel river. Because of the cooler climate the grapes must mature for a very long time, resulting in more intens aromas. Riesling wines from this area tend to be fresher with more acidity than wines from other parts of the Mosel. We will visit Weingut Van Volxem, which is run since 1999 by Roman Niewodniczanski. Some years ago a new bottle of Scharzhofberger Trockenbeerenauslese from their neighbouring vineyard, Egon Müller, was auctioned for 14.556 euro. Trockenbeerenauslese is the sweetest wine measured by sugar content of the grapemust. After tasting some wines at Van Volxem estate we will head for Trier, the oldest city in Germany already founded by the Romans. The Romans also started the viticulture in this region. Wine was mainly used in that time to disinfect drinking water. After dinner, accompanied with some wines from the Trier Bishopric Estate, Bisschöfliche Weingüter zu Trier und Rinke, we´ll spend the night just near the Porta Nigra, a city gate from Roman times.

The next day we will have time to explore the old city center. In the inner city of Trier there is a Roman Basilica, a Roman Arena, a Library with old Manuscripts and the house where Karl Marx was born. At eleven we continue by bus to Longuich where the well-known Italian architect Matteo Thun designed 20 guesthouses in the wine estate of Longen-Schlöder, fitted perfectly in to the landscape. In Bernkastel we will visit the Moselwine Museum or the Rieslinghaus. We visit Doctor Loosen estate for a tasting. Loosen exports to more than a hundred countries and owns vineyards in Pfalz and the United States. After the tasting the bus brings us to Hotel and Gasthaus Zeltinger Hof in Zeltingen. This place is also known as the `Gasthaus des Rieslings´ because of its enormous winecollection. Unique in the world is its wine list with 160 wines, all can be ordered by the glass. Eight of these wines will be served during our 4-course dinner.

PROGRAM DAY 3

08.30 am Start walking tour along the Mosel
10.00 am Riesling Manufaktur Rebenhof in Ürzig
12.00 am Erdener Prälat
02.30 pm Weingut Michael Trossen in Kröv
04.00 pm Weingut Markus Molitor in Wehlen
08.00 pm Dinner in Zeltingen

This is our most active day. We start with a walk through the vineyards in Ürzig. In this village we will visit Die Riesling Manufaktur Rebenhof from where we have a magnificent view of the Mosel river. On the road that follows the river we will see the most famous vineyard in the Mosel wine region, Erdener Prälat. As we walk to the top of the hill we will view the Prälat in many different ways. This is the warmest vineyard in the region because of its southern exposure, the steepness of the slope and the fact that it is surrounded by red slate, a geological formation rarely seen around the Mosel river. The wines from this vineyard easily reach “auslese” quality. In Kröv we will visit the new building of Vinothek Michael Trossen. The bus will now take us to the beautifully renovated Haus Klosterberg, for which the architect Lucas Baumewerd was awarded the Moselwein Architektur Preis in 2013. This is the home of Weingut Markus Molitor who will treat us to a wine tasting. Besides his white wines, Molitor also produces a number of reputable red wines. In the evening we have dinner again at Zeltinger Hof where we have the opportunity to taste some of the other “by the glass” 160 wines, some of them quite old. Amongst them and most famous of course some nice Riesling wines which is known for its aging property.

Today we take a longer drive along the river. Our first stop is Traben-Trarbach where we will visit the huge underground Wine Cellars. In the beginning of the 20th century Traben-Trarbach was one of the largest wine harbors of the world. In order to store the enormous amounts of wines the cellars comprise 60% of the entire city area. We continue to Pünderich where we take a short ferry ride across the river and climb the steps through the Pündericher Marienburg vineyard. We continue our walk and get picked up by the bus at the village of Alf. Nearby we will take a short walk around Bremmer Calmont, the world’s steepest vineyard. The workers in this vineyard have to be secured by cables and ropes to prevent accidents. We continue our trip and visit the Heymann-Löwenstein estate where we have a wine tasting in their artistically designed tasting room. After the tasting we drive to Koblenz for our last night and have dinner with a view on the Deutsches Eck, where the Mosel meets the Rhine.

PROGRAM DAY 5

09.00 am Forum Confluentes in Koblenz
12.00 am Walk at Rech am Ahr
01.30 pm Weingut Jean Stodden in Rech am Ahr
07.00 pm Return in Amsterdam

In the morning we visit Forum Confluentes and Forum Mittelrhein both designed by the Dutch architectural firm Benthem Crouwel. After this visit we drive to the third wine Region (after Saar and Mosel) on this trip. We will take a short walk through the vineyards along the Ahr river and at the end of the walk we will visit the estate of Jean Stodden, a very nice design by architect Hans-Jürgen Mertens. In this winery, after tasting many white wines in the Mosel, red wine lovers will have will have the opportunity to taste and purchase some of the best red wines Germany has to offer. After the tasting we head home again for Amsterdam.