Port & Chocolate Pairing: February 14–16. Included with all tastings. Reserve now!

Exploring the Rhine

We are lucky enough to have our work also be our hobby!! As we plan our family vacations, we consider food and wine in areas we’re considering travel to. Touring other wine regions gets the creative juices flowing and motivates us to continue to evolve as a winery and event destination. These trips are not only fun as a family but allow us to collaborate as a team to bring back ideas for our winery!

Our first Helwig family trip was an amazing river cruise from Basel to Amsterdam with a visit to the Alsace region prior to the cruise.

Wonderful time in the Alsace. Fun fact, that area has been German, French, German, French, etc over time. Consequently they describe the food there as German quantity and French quality. We could definitely attest to that.

Group of people eating at a restaurant in Germany

We did a lot of wine tasting. The whites were wonderful and including Gewurtztraminer, pinot blanc, chenin blanc, Riesling. We learned to really appreciate the sweet whites. Because of the sugar and acid content, they can last for years and really change over time. The 20+ year old whites have the wonderful golden urine color 😊. The also make pinot noir there, but we were not fans. The pricing was such that the cost of shipping a case home was often more than the cost of the case of wine.

Cellar Tour

Lineup of wines

Group photo

We did some great sightseeing. The most memorable was going to the WWI bunkers, sections of which are still there. It was amazing how close the French bunkers were to the German bunkers. You can definitely see how they could sing Christmas carols together, as they were as close as 30’ apart.

Man in a cave

Group in vineyard

Group at historic site

The cruise was amazing along the Rhine and it also included the Mosel. Views of the country side with the vineyards, “fortified residences” or castles on the hilltops and the small viilages along the way were breathtaking. The vineyards along the Mosel were incredibly steep. There is no way our vineyard crew would work those vines.

And of course, when we were in German towns we had to try the beer.

Drinking beer

The cruise ended in Amsterdam, so we had to take a canal cruise.

Amsterdam canal cruise

Our family adventures are always full of amazing sights, unique flavors and quality time! We look forward to them each year.