Wine: Alde Gott Spätburgunder

I've written almost 20 posts about wine so far, but this post is unique. All the wines that I've reviewed until now were Württemberg wines, whereas this is a Baden wine. If you know anything about Germany, you'll know that Baden and Württemberg are combined into one state called Baden-Württemberg. However, the two states have different cultures, different dialects and different wines. There's a lot of pride on both sides of the border, and both states insist their wines are best. On the whole, I side with Württemberg.

Whereas Württemberg specialises in making red wine, the majority of Baden's wines are white, with the exception of the vineyards in and around Pforzheim. I may come back to them in a future post.

This week I'm on holiday in Karlsbad, a small town that lies halfway between Karlsruhe and Pforzheim. I've been here a few times. It's a Luftkurort, which is a difficult word to translate, but it means that it's a place recognised for the quality of its air. I can verify that. I go for walks in the nearby woods every day, and the air is a pleasure to breathe. Pollution levels must be close to zero.

My hotel has a small shop with a selection of wines. They're only Baden wines. That's understandable. People would complain if they sold wines from anywhere else, because "Baden wines are best". Before leaving home I packed a bottle of Eberbach-Schäfer Spätburgunder in my suitcase. Seeing a Baden version of Spätburgunder in the shop, I bought a bottle to make a direct comparison.

As expected, the Baden wine is sweeter and less powerful than the Württemberg wine. Does that mean it's not as good? Despite my bias towards Württemberg wines, I wouldn't say so. I prefer the Eberbach-Schäfer wine, but it's a matter of personal preference. The Alde Gott wine is definitely a good wine. However, I looked at their web site and saw that this is their only red wine. That's to be expected.

I sat drinking the wine while watching Bayern München defeat Lyon 3-0 in the semi-final of the Champion's League. It was a weird feeling watching the match. Usually nobody in this part of Germany likes Bayern München. They're the arch rivals of VFB Stuttgart, the biggest team in the area. However, the game was hyped as a Germany vs France match, so everyone was cheering for Bayern München.

Playing football is a lot more civilised than waging war. Germany won the match, and it was almost peaceful, apart from one ugly incident. Lyon's Marcelo was given a yellow card for punching Bayern's Lewandowsky in the face. It should have been a red card. The referee must have thought it was an accident, but the live broadcast proved it was deliberate.

Let me treat you to a few photos of where I'm staying. Admittedly, pictures alone aren't enough to give an accurate impression. You need to breathe the air.

This is the view from the front. I couldn't get it all in one photo. That's a disadvantage of taking photos with a mobile phone instead of a real camera.

My room, at the back of the hotel.

The view from my balcony.

Another view from my balcony.

There's a hospital directly opposite the front entrance of the hotel. You can't see much behind the trees, but it's quite big.

There's always excitement when a helicopter lands or takes off. Those people who don't have rooms at the front rush into the hallway to watch.

We feel appropriately guilty for taking pleasure in something that results from someone else's suffering.

The gate at the back of the hotel is always unlocked. It's just to tell people where the hotel grounds end and the public woods begin.

Karlsbad lies in the north west tip of the Black Forest. It's not as beautiful as the southern Black Forest, but it's still worth visiting.

Foresters cut down trees, but the woods are still thick.

Trees, trees, trees, as far as the eye can see.

This is my third visit in two years. I'm here with my daughter and my grandson. Shall I come again? Probably. One of the main advantages is that it's so close to home, less than an hour's  drive.