The Rhineland was our base from 7 AM when the River Queen arrived in Cochem until 7 PM when she sailed. After the morning Cochem tour, there was an opportunity to visit the twin towns of Ediger-Eller, population around 1,000, in the afternoon. We would first learn about their history and culture and then ride our bus to an historic wine cellar for a tasting. The senior Rambler again decided to stay on board as his back was acting up. Of course, he could go ashore anytime as the River Queen was docked in walking distance of the town.
Despite her somewhat humiliating experience at Reichsburg Castle, the Rambler still joined the group in the afternoon as she enjoys riding through the countryside and walking through the small villages along the Moselle. It didn’t take long for us to reach Ediger-Eller, and on the way we learned something of its history. Most interesting to me was that peaches were grown here, as the climate would normally be too cold in winter. However these were not just any peaches .
These small peach trees that bear a very unusual peach are found only around Cochem. They were brought to the area in Roman times, adapted to the climate and still flourish today in a symbiotic relationship with the vineyards that line the hillsides. The peach trees produce small hard fruit covered with grayish fur that are called maus (mouse) peaches. Although they are not good for eating off the tree, the maus peaches which are deep red on the inside, make delicious liquor and preserves. I later bought a bottle when we visited the weingut J. Walter Oster for our tasting as it was one of their specialties.
I managed get it home unbroken even after our last, disastrous day on the the German rail system when the Ramblers struggled to get back to Amsterdam. Not surprisingly, Cochem hosts several peach festivals during the year. https://youtu.be/UIH00D2rjJc
When we alighted from the bus, we were greeted by the Mayor and his wife; they would be our guides for our tour of Ediger Eller. The mayor was a very outgoing gentleman, proud of his town, while his wife was more reserved. I am positive she didn’t enjoy the tour business as much as her husband.
They both wore robes and chains of office based on traditional mayoral garb. The mayor had good reason to be proud of his beautiful well preserved town. It was an amazingly well-kept place with many ancient half-timbered or stone houses. His family had lived in the area for many generations and it seemed that everyone we met was related to him in some way. Not surprising in such a small place. The town had one very unusual space, a simple room for contemplation with a menorah clearly visible against the far wall.
The room was built to commemorate the Jews who were forced to leave Ediger Eller during WWII; sadly none had returned.
Our last stop in town was at St. Martin’s Church which had been damaged during the war, but well restored. There we enjoyed an brief concert. The Rambler enjoys organ music, especially when both the organist and instrument are both excellent. The church had one especially interesting sculpture group that I have included its photo here, here, along with the usual statues and stained glass. But St Martins was overall a simple, quietly spiritual place.
After the concert, we again boarded our bus for a brief ride to the nearby town of St. Aldegund, even smaller than Ediger Eller with a population of only 600. Despite its small size, St. Aldegund did have several excellent, ancient wine cellars. Naturally we were to have our tasting in a very atmospheric and historical one.
All these towns we have seen or visited in this part of Germany are surrounded by vineyards which climb the surrounding sometimes very steep hills. I would not like to have the job of working at such an angle, and we have seen some workers wearing a safety harness in the steepest areas.
I later learned that many of the hills that surrounded us have a 70 degree gradient, and are among the steepest vineyard in the world, and certainly the steepest in Germany. All work, even picking the grapes, has to be done by hand, since a machine would likely tumble down the slope. A careless mis-step by a worker often results in a serious injury. If you look carefully, you can see that the vineyard owners have graded level pathways every so often along the hills so that tractors and people can walk along them. Usually crews from Eastern Europe come in for the harvest of mainly Riesling grapes. Ninety percent of the grapes grown here are white varieties although a small amount of red grapes are harvested.
Our mayor and his wife accompanied us to the historic winery of J. Walter Oster in St. Aldegund.
We were greeted warmly and ushered into a cavernous cellar past mysterious flasks of wines and spirits on display that reminded me of the laboratory of a mad scientist. There was also a small store selling the Oster products as we entered. Most of us stopped there on our way ot.
The Rambler found this laboratory area fascinating but had to follow the group into a large room which had the look of a cavern, equipped with sturdy wooden tables and chairs. We arranged ourselves around the tables and immediately started nibbling on the cheese and crackers that had been set out for us. It is a conundrum that even tho there is no shortage of food on a river cruise, the travelers always seem to have room for more. During the course of the tasting our group consumed almost all of the cheese and most of the crackers. LOL Several varieties were quite tasty and they disappeared first.
Soon the mayor again appeared center stage and discussed the wines we would try and as if by magic, bottles of Riesling and other less well known varietals arrived and the tasting began. We tried many wines ranging from white to red, dry to sweet. The Rambler enjoyed most of them but didn’t keep a tasting chart as I knew it would be impossible to buy them back in Georgia. Most of these family-owned wineries do not produce enough wine to export their products and sell locally, although there are exceptions.
Soon an accordionist appeared and he and the mayor treated us to several choruses of German drinking songs. It was a fun time, and our stay in the cellar passed quickly.
All too soon, it was time to head back to the River Queen as she would sail for Trier at 7 PM. One thing we have learned on our cruises with Uniworld is that they are always on time, so when they give an all-aboard time, they are not kidding. The crew has to stow the gangplank and untie the mooring ropes which can be very hard work depending on the dock.
We were back on board in plenty of time as usual. Trier would be a quite different experience as it was a much larger place and featured some impressive Roman ruins. The Romans built towns all along the Rhine but not too many have survived as well as those in Trier.