72 TRAVEL+LEISURE | OCTOBER 2019
about wine pairing: “What grows together, goes
together.” This popped into my head as I studied
the menu in the cozy Gasthaus Adler, in the
Baden-Württemberg region of southwestern
Germany, a glass of elegant, earthy Pinot Noir
from a nearby winery in hand. Naturally, I
decided on the Hirschgulasch, a venison stew
made with red wine and wild herbs. It’s a
traditional dish here, and would go perfectly
with what I was sipping.
The waitress took my order, then came back
to set a place mat before me. That’s when I looked
down and saw it—a large black-and-white photo
of a deer, shot head-on, its eyes staring into mine.
I glanced over my shoulder. Behind me on the
wall, another deer photo, nearly life-size, also
stared at me. Both of them seemed to be saying,
“Hirschgulasch, mein Herr? Seriously?”
I took a sip of my Pinot (or, as they call it here,
Spätburgunder). About a month earlier, a deer
had jumped out at me while I was driving
through rural Pennsylvania and totaled my car. I
was low on sympathy for anything with four legs
and antlers. My soul was ice. Yeah, life’s tough,
you fuzzy bastards.
Then I sighed, called the waitress back,
and changed my order to the trout.
Though it might seem surprising, Germany
grows more Pinot Noir than any other country
except France and the United States. And the
Baden wine region—a corridor of stunning
vineyards that tracks the Rhine River between
the spa hub of Baden-Baden and the university
town of Freiburg im Breisgau—is the heartland
of Germany’s Pinot Noir production. It’s also
next to the Black Forest, where streamers of mist
swirled down from the pine-covered peaks to
the tan-and-rust elms and oaks below during the
early fall mornings when I was there. It has a
mysterious beauty that’s no less alluring than
the vineyards nearby.
Outsiders are just catching on to Germany’s
Pinot Noirs, and even Germans haven’t been
wise to them for very long. A revolution in quality
THERE’S AN OLD SAYING
Stuttgart
Baiersbronn
Baden- Baden
Lahr
Kenzingen
Malterdingen
Freiburg im Breisgau
Vogtsburg
Staufen
Zurich
Black Forest
erman
RHI
NE^ R
IVE
R
FRANCE
SWITZERLAND
