akkar003

Hello -

My husband and I will be visiting Colmar September 21-25. We were hoping do a bike ride through the vineyards along the Alsace Wine Route. However we've read that in late September access to these roads is restricted for the harvest. We were wondering if this just meant that all the smaller "wine paths" off the main road were closed, or if the full Wine Route is also closed? Any information on visiting Colmar and the surrounding villages during this time is appreciated!

Thanks!

bilboburgler

Ok, I've ridden it a fair few times and done wine tasting there a bit. The road bit is "it depends". The main road is busy (mainly with tourists and tourist coaches) but everything moves very slowly. The cycle path will be mainly clear, but might be taken over for a day or so. The routes through the vines will get closed down as required by the farmers. On top of this there are also a whole bunch of other little roads that criss-cross the area.

The best idea is to get hold of the bikeline alsace booklet (it may have to be in German but the maps work in any language) and modify your route as you need to. Don't forget there is a local train system in the area that takes bikes if you get stuck, but not all train take bikes and the ones that do are not common. seat61.com may help but you'll also need the local train time table with the bike symbol on the trains if youget into this.

Visiting wineries during this time. If the winery is in prime tourist area with and set up to sell to the passing traffic (so big enough to leave someone in the shop) then they will be open to you. If too small they will want you to go away.

So, for example if you go to Eguisheim (right next to Colmar) then of the roughly 40 wineries in town, 20 will still be offering tastings. Ans so it goes on.

Colmar is just a town rather than a village, well spread out it has a touristy centre, welcome to Alsace ;-)

If you want some ideas, follow my name back to Sept/Oct last year when I took a bunch of friends wine tasting here. Also, this is a little out of date but it may help http://www.mybikeguide.co.uk/Alsace_Guide.php

ribeirasacra

Question is, what dates are said to be set for the harvest this year? I do not know how advanced or late the maturing of the grapes is in France.
http://us.france.fr/en/information/grape-harvest-alsace

Here, in this part of Spain, we have just started. A month before it normally happens.

bilboburgler

ttt to line up with the other Alsace question

kerouac

The grape harvest has already begun in a lot of France -- and started in July in certain areas -- due to the heat wave. Not sure about the grapes in Alsace, but the mirabelle plums in the same area are being harvested now also and that is the earliest date ever.

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Okay, I just checked Google, and grape pickers are being recruited for Alsace starting September 4th for about a month. The France 3 regional TV station adds that it is going to be one of the smallest harvests ever, down more than 20% from last year. There was frost in April and big hailstorms in June. The harvest will be better in the Bas-Rhin (Strasbourg zone) than the Haut-Rhin (Colmar zone).