Hey there,

Me and my better half are planning 2 weeks of wine touring in Western part of Germany. We’d like to depart somewhere in early May to take an advantage of spring season. We’re quite into enology, with some education in that field as well as holding basic practical skills. I’m fully aware that the main season is usually anywhere between August-October, but we don’t have that much flexibility this time

Here’s the current concept:

• We will be travelling by car from Poland, also using it as a commute between cities / regions. We will be travelling in the afternoons to make sure 0.0% alc/blood level is assured.
• We want to stay in hotels inside wineries or ones in a very short distance from those (depending on availability / price). We’d like to taste best wines from each region.
• Beyond just wine tasting, we'd like to have some experience in wine making - vineyard tours, winery tours etc
• On top of winery / vineyard experience we love great food, off the beaten path walks and breath taking views.
• Oh yes, I plan to read a lot – my kindle backlog scares me already
• We’ve gathered bit of info (magazines, internet, wine shops, own past purchases) on wineries we’d like to visit – that was a base for the route.

Here’s the draft of the itinerary:

• Berlin will be our first stop (for various reasons) – we love Charlottenburg, we know few small joints however your suggestions on wine bars would be appreciated
• I’d like to spend one day in Saale-Unstrut region (since it’s on our way) – wondering if you’d have some recommendations there (winery, hotel, restaurant). I’ve been using http://www.weinbauverband-saale-unst...t.php?areaID=3 so far
• Next 5-6 days we’d like to spend in Mosel region. We’re still working on details but general concept is to stay in 3 various hotels/weinguts/pensions for 2 days each and enjoy our time. Basic plan is to visit 6-8 wineries during that time (Moselen Besten Liste was used as a base), eat in well rated restaurants.
• One full day in Luxembourg – never been there, so want to see it. We’ll use wikitravel.org / tripadvisor to find our ways around. Your recommendations on routes/restaurants/bars are more than welcome
• Next 5-6 spent in Pfalz – one of our local shops in Warsaw has a very strong representation of wines from that region. We love them. Probably a little too much. Plan very similar to Mosel part – 3-4 places, 1-2 days in each, wine/food/walking/reading.
• Last part – Rhein-Hessen (on our way home) – probably 2-3 days with one or two places to be visited
• We’ll be driving back home (1k km) in one day, with some food in Berlin I guess.

I hope above plan sounds reasonable to you, your comments are more than welcome. What I’d love to hear from you is:

• what specific wineries / bars / restaurants / hotels you can recommend?
• are there any places within mentioned regions which are “must goes” or “do avoids”?
• any scenic routes for a car drive?

Over next few days we will be able to sort out the details, your comments (as usual on FT) will be more than helpful

mfg
mfk