A Tale of Two Regions: Wine Stories from Baden and Württemberg

The wines from Baden-Württemberg regions are full of history and stories, curiosities and anecdotes worth telling. Particularly in the border regions where Württemberg and Baden meet, the (shifting) frontiers are a source of curiosity, and local winegrowers show how the supposed contrasts between the two regions can be combined in an enjoyable way. Whether in the Kraichgau, the Tauber Valley or on Lake Constance, wherever Baden and Württemberg meet, the stories of travellers across the border tell of the diversity of southern Germany.

Oberderdingen – Wine-Growing Village between Baden and Württemberg

In Oberderdingen you cross borders several times: the wine-growing village between Karlsruhe and Heilbronn lies on the border between the Kraichgau and Stromberg regions and on the border between Baden and Württemberg. Oberderding winegrowers cultivate vineyards in both wine regions. The old clichés and sensitivities that have developed over the decades suggest that this should not be possible: grapes from Baden and Württemberg in the same winery – almost unthinkable. However, the village has seen many changes of frontier and has been characterised by viticulture for centuries. This is not only shown by the grapes in the coat of arms of the municipality. A legend from the Thirty Years’ War says that Oberderdingen was spared only because the parish priest opened his wine cellar. After sampling the local wine, the Imperial troops were in such a mild mood that they began to retreat. Whether the story is true or not, it shows the peace-making effect that wine can have. So it’s no wonder that the Baden and Württemberg Wine Roads meet peacefully in Oberderdingen.

Cross-Border Tours at Lutz Winery

Crossing culinary borders is not just on the menu at Weingut Lutz in Oberderding. Fourth generation winemaker Manuel Lutz pushes the boundaries in his vineyards every day. Seven hectares lie on Baden territory, ten hectares in Württemberg. While he mainly grows white wines in the Kraichgau region of Baden, red wines are the hallmark of his vineyards in the Stromberg hills of Württemberg. The winery takes advantage of its special location and takes you outside wine cellar. The programme also includes a “Border crosser bus tour” in a vintage bus, offering insights into the scenic and viticultural diversity of this border region.

Kürnbach – Hesse Meets Baden Meets Württemberg

It is not uncommon for places located on borders to change their rulers over the centuries – this is the normal course of history. In Kürnbach, a neighbouring community of Oberderdingen, what has shaped the course of time for some 600 years can rightly be described as a constitutional curiosity: until 1905, the village’s land ownership was divided, first between Hesse and Württemberg, and later between Hesse and Baden. This had consequences: in addition to two mayors, there were also two registry offices and, as Kürnbach is a wine-growing town, two wine presses. A ‘Hessenkelter’ and a ‘Badische Kelter’ can still be found in the town today. Particularly curious is the fact that the latter was built under the Württembergs.

“Cross-Border” Cuvée from Kürnbach

Working as a winegrower in the border region between Baden and Württemberg, can entail being particularly creative when producing wines from Baden-Württemberg. The Grahm family of winegrowers from Kürnbach in Baden found themselves facing a challenge when their vineyards were suddenly located either side of the border as a result of land consolidation. Parts of the former Baden vineyards became part of Württemberg overnight and were therefore in a different wine-growing zone under wine law. Further processing by the nearby Baden co-operative was no longer possible. So they made a virtue out of necessity: the border-straddling location of the vineyards became the motto for a red wine cuvée made from Baden and Württemberg grapes. Wine law, however, still has its say. The cuvée with the apt name “Grenzgänger” must make do without a quality or vineyard designation and can only call itself a “German wine”. Nevertheless, wine connoisseurs are enthusiastic about the cross-border synthesis of Baden and Württemberg.

The Lovely Tauber Valley – One River Connecting Three Growing Regions

From source to mouth, the Tauber makes its way back and forth between Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg several times. On its way through the lovely Tauber Valley, it meanders through three different wine-growing regions in a very small area. Württemberg vines grow in the southern Tauber Valley, around Creglingen and Weikersheim. Tauberfranken, the northernmost wine-growing region in Baden, begins a few kilometres further north. But the Tauber Valley is more than just a meeting point between the Tauberfranken region of Baden and the northern foothills of Württemberg. Franconia is another wine-growing region on the Bavarian side of the border that adds to the sense of community. The people see themselves as a single region, which is perhaps why the borders here are even more blurred than elsewhere. Take the traditional Franconian Bocksbeutel, which is used in Tauberfranken in Baden but not in Taubertal in Württemberg.

Württemberg Wines from the Bavarian Lake Constance

Baden also meets Württemberg at Lake Constance. To the east of Friedrichshafen, around Kressbronn, lies the Württemberg Lake Constance growing region. There is also a speciality that only exists in this form in the Württemberg-Bavarian border region. In the Bavarian wine-growing towns of Wasserburg, Nonnenhorn and Lindau, wines are bottled with a rather curious designation of origin. The labels read, Bayerischer Bodensee/Anbaugebiet Württemberg.

‘Brooms’ meet ‘Ostriches’

They sprout up everywhere in the wine-growing regions, in Baden and Württemberg, in spring and autumn – as soon as the first wine is served. The “Besen” and “Straußen” taverns are mostly run directly by the winegrowers and are only open for a few weeks a year, many of them in simple barns, cellars or garages. Decorated brushwood brooms or flower bouquets in front of the house tell you it’s open season and invite you to visit. In Württemberg they are called Besenwirtschaft or “Besa” – Brooms. In Baden they are called “Straußen” or “Straußi” – the German word for a flower bouquet. The atmosphere is unique either way.

Finally, Two Superlatives: The Highest German Vineyards

Here, too, Württemberg and Baden join hands: both growing regions can lay claim to the highest vineyards in Germany. In Baden, the Hohentwiel vineyards climb up to over 562 metres. Below the Hohenneuffen, the highest Württemberg vines reach to around 527 metres. The following applies to both wine-growing regions: the vines grow highest in Southwest Germany.

This article originally appeared in TravelPulse.

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