Belgium and Luxembourg (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

GRAND DUCHY OF LUXEMBOURG 249

The market town of Larochette, huddled in a verdant glen formed by the River Ernz Blanche

Larochette 6

20 km (12 miles) N of Luxembourg

City. Road Map F4. * 1,500. @

n Chemin J.A. Zinnen 33; 837038.

http://www.larochette.lu.

A pleasant market town in the

valley of River Ernz Blanche,

Larochette has more than 800

years of history, centring upon

its castle set on a rocky sand-

stone crag that dominates the

town. This location gave the

town its name: Larochette is

French for The Small Rock.

In German, the town is Fels

(Rock). Extensive ruins of the

11th–16th-century Château de

Larochette, destroyed by fire

in 1565, cover the top of the

crag. Located here is Palais

des Hombourg, the medieval

palace of two noble sisters

who married brothers from the

House of Homburg in 1338–45.

Restoration of the castle has

begun with the now complete

Maison de Créhange, an

impressive evocation of a

14th-century fortified resi-

dence named after a family

that inhabited this part of

the castle. Looping out from

the town are some 30 km

(18 miles) of walking paths.

P Château de Larochette

Tel 837497. # Easter–Oct:

10am–6pm daily. &

THE WINES OF LUXEMBOURG

Appreciated by wine enthusiasts for their dry, fresh flavours,

Luxembourg wines have little of the cloying fruitiness some-

times associated with northern white wines. The Romans

are said to have brought wine grapes to the Moselle valley,

and the local grape variety Elbling may date right back to

that era. The vines grow in a string of 28 town and villages

lining the left bank of the river between Schengen and

Wasserbillig. Slopes here are sunny and the climate is cool,

favouring white wine grapes. The main varieties are Rivaner,

Auxerrois Blanc, Elbling, Riesling, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris.

Chardonnay and Gewürztraminer also make an appearance.

Pinot Noir is grown to make rosé and a small amount of

red wine. A sizeable proportion

of the harvest is used to make

the sparkling wine Crémant

Luxembourgeois, and there

are three types of sweet wines:

vin de glace, vin de paille and

vendanges tardives. Some 80

per cent of the total white wine

production is consumed in

Belgium, and much of the rest

is sent to Germany to be made

into sekt (sparkling wine).

and producers on the Route
du Vin (Wine Road) along the
river offer wine tastings and
tours, for instance at Remich,
Wormeldange, Grevenmacher
and the wine cooperatives
of Wellenstein. Just north of
Wellenstein, among the win-
erys of Bech-Kleinmacher, is
a charming wine and folklore
museum, the Musée A Possen.
This has furnished rooms in
a set of 400-year-old wine-
making buildings and includes
wine tasting among its draws.
The town of Ehnen, in the
commune of Wormeldange, is
the site of the Musée National
du Vin, which explains wine-
making pro cesses, again
with tastings.
The wine-growing village
of Schengen is where the
Schengen Agreement was
signed in 1985 by European
ministers, loosening the border
controls between participat-
ing countries.
Cruises offer an agreeable
way to see the extensive
Moselle Luxembourgeoise.
The cruise-boat Princesse
Marie-Astrid runs a daily
schedule between varying
destinations – with return trips
by coach – from late March to
late September. Details are
avail able from the Greven-
macher tourist office.

E Musée A Possen

Keeseschgaessel 2, Bech-

Kleinmacher. Tel 23697353.

# Easter–Oct: 11am–7pm Tue–Sun.

& 7 = http://www.musee-possen.lu

E Musée National du Vin

Route du Vin 115, Ehnen.

Tel 760026. # Apr–Oct: Tue–Sun.

Barrels stacked in a wine

cellar of the Moselle valley