Yet another trip to SW Germany... looking for recommendations

Ok folks, I need some recommendations....

I'm headed back to SW Germany (Kaiserslautern / Ramstein area) for 3 weeks in late April to visit the wife & kids and get some job interviews in.

While there, I need to pick up a few new bottles to bolster the collection and this is where you come in. I know of a few wineries that we like to hit each time, but at the same time, we want to try new stuff. If you only had a few hours on the Duetcheweinstrasse, maybe 1/2 a day, where would be your mandatory stops?

My normal stops are:
- K. H. Mühmichel in Kirchheim for their Scheurbe Eiswein & their Winzerkaffee
- Herxheim for their Gewürztraminer spätlese & auslese http://www.wg-herxheim.de/

Any other recommendations for a couple that is still at the "wine for dummies" stage?[/url]

Muller-Catoir is just off the Weinstasse in Haart near Neustadt. One of the great estates in the Pfalz. Their whole range is pretty good. Turn off the Weinstasse in Neustadt and head for the hills. Haart is about half way up slopes. There's a single road to follow with several Weingut along the way. Not a lot of parking but there's a good sized sign for the estate. They don't speak a lot of English however, but do have an English wine list.

Too bad you don't have more time. Most of the great wine regions are within an couple hour drive from Kaiserslautern.

Too bad you don't have more time. Most of the great wine regions are within an couple hour drive from Kaiserslautern.

I'm hoping to be able to spend more time, but I'm being optomistic. Between job interviews, visiting the family that I haven't seen since Christmas, possibly going to Euro Disney for the 15th anniversary, blah blah blah... I don't think I'll have much "wine time".

Gunderloch was also a favorite visit in the Rhein Hessen. About an hour drive from Kaiserslautern. If you have a few extra hours you might visit them also. In the town of Nackenheim on the Rhein front. Very friendly people and an excellent range.

How're the Kaiserslautern Red Devils lately?

I used to live near Frankfurt (Darmstadt, actually). I always recommend a trip up the rhine, toward Koblenz (starting around Rudesheim/Bingen on the B9), and then, at Boppard (2/3 way to Koblenz), or around there, head west to the Mosel river and make your way back down south...beautiful views, great castles all along the way...there is a twin towered castle called Thurant, I believe, near Boppard (but it might be near St. Goar...). Once to the mosel, I find my way to the B49 and follow it over the bridge onto the west side of the river. Make a stop at Burg Eltz if you haven't been there (the true fairy tale castle from middle centuries) and then you can stop all along the Mosel at various winemakers as you head south. Tough day trip, quite frankly, but I've done it 3 different times. Or you can make a night out of it and head all the way to Trier. Or just do the Mosel part, but will miss some great castles on the Rhine side (although, there are plenty of decent ones, not least the Eltz, on the Mosel).

Just my 2 cents, and I could be more clear if you think you're interested.

Oh, and another note on a GREAT restaurant known for fine wines...Schloss Rheinhartshausen between Wiesbaden and Rudesheim. Their Restaurant Prinzess von Erbach is outstanding and featured from time to time as one of the few grand award winners of Germany in Wine Spectator's magazine. Not cheap, by any standard, though, but probably one of the most memorable dinners I've had in my life. Worth the trip to the area for just that, and their wine, and easier timewise than the whole river tour. Link below to the restaurant site:


http://www.schloss-hotel.de/en/home/index.htm?folding=1