Every year, from end of September to mid of November, Alsace and the upper Rhine valley is wearing its golden dress. This is also a very popular season for holiday makers from all over the world. Winemakers and grape pickers are dancing their ballet on the natural stage of green and soon golden vineyards and forests escalating the hills and mountains.

Before the first snow arrives and as the preparation for the Christmas markets are going on (they are due to open on Nov 22), here are some pictures. There will not be much text information. Just pictures to savour. I hope you will like them.

Grape harvesting in September and October

The first grapes to be harvested (usually mid-September, depending on how ripe they are) are the grapes used to make the bubbly local Crémant d’Alsace wine. It might be rosé or white. When it is a white wine created with pinot noir, it is called “blanc de noirs”.

Pinot noir harvest near Andlau in Alsace. Grape picking begins first with the grapes used for the Crémant d’Alsace, the local bubbly wine.

Pinot noir harvest near Andlau in Alsace

Pinot noir harvest near Andlau in Alsace

Pinot noir harvest near Andlau in Alsace

Pinot noir harvest near Andlau in Alsace. This pinot noir will give a full bodied Crémant d’Alsace.

Grape harvesting is a game played with or against the weather. As long as the weather remains dry, grape picking can go ahead. And even when the sun is hidding, colours are bright and shiny. Maybe more than with too much sun. Have a look.

Activity on the hills around Riquewihr …

harvesting grapes on the Schoenenbourg hill in Riquewihr. Dopff Au Moulin estate.

harvesting grapes on the Schoenenbourg hill in Riquewihr (Dopff Au Moulin estate.). The house on the right side is our new vacation rental property.

Grape picking in Riquewihr. Harvesting has to be well organized. A good conductor is essential.

Morning coffee in the vineyards with Adrien Tasinato and Régine Zimmer

Morning coffee in the vineyards

Grape picking in Riquewihr

While in the village itself …

Riquewihr is the jewel on the Alsace Wine Route – famous for the Riesling and other great Alsace wines produced here – and looks today exactly as it did in the 16th Century. Riquewihr is a wonderful and romantic little medieval city hidden between the Vosges mountains and some of the most famous vineyards in Alsace.
For more pictures and information about Riquewihr in Alsace, click here.

Grapes freshly picked in Riquewihr. Hugel Estate.

Riquewihr – colours of medieval houses.

Riquewihr – colours of medieval houses.

Riquewihr – colours of medieval houses.

Riquewihr – colours of medieval houses.

Riquewihr – colours of medieval houses.

Riquewihr – main street

Riquewihr – main street. Load of grapes from Hugel estate waiting to enter the winery’s cellar.

Riquewihr – colours of medieval houses.

Useful links

Alsace Wine Route celebrates 60th anniversary.

Alsace Wine Route official website

Les Remparts de Riquewihr – book one of our new luxury holiday apartments created in an old historical winery facing the vineyards in Riquewihr.