Vertical Weingut

"Weingut" means a wine estate; the vineyards, cellars, and production facilities of a winery. Along the Rhein river, the wineries plant the vines straight up the slopes on both sides of the river, "to make the vines work harder to get water, thus making richer, sweeter grapes." At places they actually string ropes up the steep hills between the rows of grapes in order to facilitate pruning and picking.

The vineyard workers come mostly from Poland, on short labor contracts, and return home when the work is done. All legally. Hmmmmm.



Many of the vineyards have only a few hectares of hillside planted, but their owners appear to know every square inch of each hill, the type of soil, and the qualities of the rocks that reside therein.



During our visit, the sun was shining brightly, and the vines were soaking up the rays. The locals, quite unused to the bright sun, did likewise.



Upon learning that we were from California, most often they thanked us profusely for bringing our sunshine with us.

Bitte zehr!