You may have noticed that chestnuts seem to be a persistent theme in our writings these days. We seem to be in the chestnut capitol of the world, and this is the peak of the chestnut season. So we decided to take the train down to Edenkoben to check out the annual chestnut and wine festival. The festival was actually a bit out of town up by King Ludwig’s hunting villa, so we caught a shuttle bus up the hill (we were getting tired of climbing hills).

Eating at the Chestnut Festival

The festival was a celebration of all things chestnut. We sampled chestnut liqueur, chestnut brandy, and chestnut bread.  We looked at chestnut pie, chestnut cookies, chestnut muffins, chestnut waffles, chestnut dumplings, and chestnut funnel cake.  For lunch we had chestnut soup and chestnut sausage. Lunch seating was at big long tables, so you sit with other people. The fellow next to us heard our accents and started asking us questions. He assumed we were British because our accents did not sound like the accents he had heard in Texas when he visited the US! We told him a Washington accent is very different from Texas. He also told us more about the food and wine we where having, about the music that was playing, and about the area in general. Very helpful!

Roasted chestnuts- the right way!

After we finished at the festival, we decided to walk back to town (while eating a bag of roasted chestnuts of course) since it would be downhill rather than up. It was a very nice passage through some woods and then past a number of vineyards. The path was also lined with a number of displays of old winemaking equipment such as presses and wagons.

A very pleasant walk

Munching chestnuts

At one point we followed a large group walking into a vineyard. They led us to another path down along the stream flowing towards town. At one point we spotted what looked like a winery just up above the path a little ways, so we went to investigate. It WAS a winery and the gate was open! It was not very busy, but we did see a small group tasting, so we went in and asked if they were still open for tasting.

The winery

The woman said yes and poured us several wines to taste. Eventually we bought three bottles to take back to our flat. Now we need to make sure we get through them before we fly out!
The winery itself was a gorgeous place. The buildings looked ancient, and the tasting was outside in a stone courtyard, with grape vines growing over our heads. Wineries in Napa spend a lot of money trying to recreate that look, and still don’t quite succeed.

Wine tasting in Germany- dictionary at hand

Since the train got us back into Neustadt right about dinner time, we stopped into the wine festival again (it’s hard to stay away). We tried some red new wine (Neuer Wein Rot) since we had only tried the white up until now. It was tasty as well. It actually reminded us of Sangria.

Beautiful evening at the wine festival

Mike was sent on a mission to find food and he did well, coming back with a selection of grilled pork and onions, grilled pork on skewers with sauce, and a spicy pork sausage on a bun. Tami also had a good time taking pictures, especially of several women in a group near us who where standing on their table singing along to the music. Everyone has a great time at the wine festival!

Having fun at the festival