ine fest season is something I look forward to all year. It is summer's answer to the wonderful Christmas markets, when all there is to celebrate is wine - which is of course, plenty of reason for a fest in my opinion. So far, the summer weather has been in full swing with warm, sunny days (as opposed to those summer storms that can creep in and ruin the whole experience). The only drawback for me has been feeling a bit under the weather, so after a few days there on opening weekend, I've neglected to make it back this week. Perhaps it was too much sun coupled with too much alcohol and not enough water, or too much food devoid of much nutritional value (I wait ALL YEAR for those freshly made potato chips with garlic sauce, alas, a proper meal it does not make), but I'm downing the water and resting up for my return to wine-drinking action.I'm hoping my husband's return - after a two-day business trip to Manchester - will mean accompanying me down and back to the fest for more new wines, which seem never-ending in our local wine country. We had so many the first night, they all got rather lost in a blur of glasses, but our next trip meant sharing one of our favorites, Trenz, with my husband's family before they headed back to the airport to fly home. A little exploring lead me to a try Georg Müller Rosé that was not only delicious, but was chilled perfectly for the hot day. I would highly recommend.
Adding to the weather and seemingly the entire town out enjoying wine (and NOT falling on their face from overindulgence - my, how I love the German's high tolerance for alcohol), is the beautiful setting. I realize I'm a bit biased, but I think our main Platz for fests is unbelieveably lovely. A little bit of the stony walkways and a little bit our imposing red Marktkirche set against the blue, blue sky, the old-world European feel just brings an element of magic to basic tables and benches and some bottles of wine. It's just another time of year where I feel especially lucky for where we live.
