German wine - Events
International Grauburgunder Symposium at Kaiserstuhl/Baden
Discover Kaiserstuhl Grauburgunder/Pinot Gris/Pinot Grigio at the 4th International Grauburgunder Symposium at Kaiserstuhl from may 20th to may 23th 2005 - a feast for all the senses!
- Kaiserstuhl, Baden
From may 20th to may 23th 2005, you can sample and enjoy the distinctive character of more than 300 Grauburgunder wines. The symposium will be staged by more than 60 leading wine estates and wine-growers' co-operatives from Germany and abroad, as well as local hotels and restaurants.
The fertile Rhine Valley located west of the "Black Forest" in south-western Germany is home to the wine-producing region and holiday area of Kaiserstuhl/Baden.
The geological substrate - magma from the depths of the earth and limestone from the former capping rock, covered with a layer of loess up to 30 metres deep in places - has provided ideal vine cultivating conditions here since Roman times. Sheltered by the Vosges mountains and blessed by its southerly position in the Upper Rhine Graben, the Kaiserstuhl is Germany's warmest region and also has the most hours of sunshine. Temperatures rise above 25° C on more than 50 days a year here, and soar above 30° C on more than 11 days.
This is prime growing territory for the Burgunder family of grapes: the Blauer Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir), the Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc) and the Grauburgunder (Pinot Grigio).
Today, the distinctive Grauburgunder is grown on around 1000 hectares in the Kaiserstuhl region - around a quarter of the Kaiserstuhl's total grape-growing area. Grauburgunder is dry and well fermented, and develops into fresh, elegant and spirited wine that is a wonderful accompaniment to any meal. It is now one of the top wines from the Kaiserstuhl region and its popularity continues to grow.
The 4th International Grauburgunder Symposium is open to all wine lovers, as well as trade visitors from the hotel and catering industry, wine specialists and media representatives.
The opening ceremony for the 4th International Grauburgunder Symposium takes place on Friday, 20 May 2005 with a presentation by wine journalist Rudolf Knoll in the Bürgerhaus Endingen.
On the same evening, the 1st Kaiserstühler Grauburgunder Prize will be awarded, and the wines from the competition will be the subject of a special exhibition. Over the four days, there will be talks by experts on the subject of the Grauburgunder grape and the "Kaiserstuhl, Garden of Nature" project, which will be of interest to the wider public as well as the trade.
On Sunday, 22 May, the traditional matinee at Endingen market square with the SWR 4 South Baden radio station begins at 11 am, and will also be attended by the Badensian Wine Queen Sabine Langenbacher.
On Sunday evening, the prestigious Schwarzen Adler restaurant in Vogtsburg-Oberbergen will host the International Grauburgunder Banquet. The sumptuous seven-course dinner will be prepared by master chef Heinz Beck, a former student of Witzigmann and Winkler at the Rome Hilton, with entertainment from stand-up comedian Matthias Deutschmann and music provided by the Rindfleisch Quintet.
Monday is "Gastro-Day", and the panel discussion on the subject of "Grauburgunder à la carte?" will set the tone for the other events.
The 2005 International Grauburgunder Festival will be an opportunity to sample regional cuisine in the Kaiserstuhl hotels and restaurants, accompanied of course by Grauburgunder wines. Local artists will be introducing themselves and their works, and Endingen is a perfect base for exploring surroundings towns such as Freiburg, Colmar, Breisach and Vogtsburg-Burkheim. Excursions on the themes of geology and wine reveal some of the secrets of this rich and varied landscape. There will also be a 14-day programme of events to accompany the 2005 International Grauburgunder Symposium.
Come and sample fine Grauburgunder wines amid the beautiful scenery of south-west Germany at the 4th International Grauburgunder Symposium. The event is symbolic of the 'good' taste which underlies the whole Kaiserstuhl food and wine trade.
Individual day tickets cost €15, tickets for the full symposium €25. All presentations and events are free.
Reservation/information from Kaiserstuhl Tourist Information, Adelshof 20, 79346 Endingen, Germany, tel.: 0049 (0)7642 - 689 990, Fax - 689 999, info(at)endingen.de.
The latest information is already available on the internet:
www.Internationales-Grauburgunder-Symposium.de.
The Kaiserstuhl region can be easily reached
by trains that run every hour (ICE, IC, EC trains to Freiburg, then 30 minutes on the Breisgau suburban railway (S-Bahn) or by car via the A 5 (three exits: Riegel/Endingen - Bahlingen/Nimburg - Bad Krozingen/Breisach). It lies around 20 km from Freiburg, approx. 250 km from Frankfurt, approx. 90 km from Basle, approx. 170 km from Stuttgart and approx. 60 km from Strasbourg.
The nearest airports are:
Mulhouse / Basle / Freiburg (France), Strasbourg (France), Zurich (Switzerland), Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Söllingen (Germany).
