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WHITE WINE AND BEER SAUSAGE
The Wine Road of Northern Alsace

The Northern Alsace Wine Road through the Rhine River plains of the Alsace region of France is one of the less familiar wine touring areas of Europe located the thickly forested hills and valleys of the Northern Vosges where eastern France elbows up against Germany's Baden-Wurttemburg across the river from the Black Forest in a land contested through Europe’s centuries of territorial disputes like a family feud. The more well-known Wine Road of Alsace runs south from Strasbourg to Mulhouse (see ROUTE DES VINS ALSACE), but Northern Alsace between Strasbourg and the border of Germany’s Saarland is more easily combined with a trip to it's teutonic neighbor. The Maginot Line (See EVERYTHING'S FINE ON THE MAGINOT LINE) left over from the brief lull between world wars passes through these valleys as does the string of vineyards of about 200 winegrowers producing sparkling Cremant and Tokay Pinot wine varieties.

The North Alsace Wine Road passes through the villages of Cleebourg, to Rott and Steinseltz and Oberhoffen-les-Wissembourg. The first vines were planted in the area by the Benedictine monks of Wissemboug Abbey. The Romanesque abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul is the second largest structure in Alsace after the Strasbourg Cathedral (See OO-so DELICIOUS STRASBOURG and for the Alsace Wine Road south of Strasbourg to

Another of the many early gothic religious buildings in the area is the Guillemite convent, the main pilgrimage house built in honor of the Virgin of Alsace. There is hardly a village that doesn’t provide a place to stop and sample the local produce of the rich farmland and game from the ancient forests.

Meatballs are a specialty in the Vosges villages of Hunspach and Seebach, sometimes called the “most beautiful rural towns in France”. Black chestnut pudding is the famous dish from Niederbronn, and fish stew is the dish along the banks of the Rhine. In Haguenau, rich with 13th Century architecture which gives it a place on the Romanesque Road of Alsace, the “Caprices du Sandhaas” is a collection of Alcasian beer-based products, including a sausage and brioche unique to the local area.

For seasonal happenings, in winter Alsace comprises seven lands of Christmas. Northern Alsace is home to “Christmas in the Land of Mysteries” following the legends of Hans Trapp through exhibitions, puppet shows, vigils and Christmas Markets. In summer is the Hop Festival in Haguenau and in September on the wine road is the Grape Harvest Festival in Cleebourg with winemaking craft demonstrations, wine tasting and of course lots of dancing in traditional folk costume to go with your Pinot. ©Bargain Travel Europe

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SEE ALSO:

WHITE WINE OF KINGS
Route des Vins Alsace

GERMANY'S BLACK FOREST
More than Ham & Cuckoo Clocks

HEADLESS KNIGHT, SLEEPY NIGHT
Burg Reichenstein - Romantic Rhine Castle next door

BEAUNE AND OLD VIRGINS OF BURGUNDY
Center of Burgundy's Wine Region

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