Wine festival "Middle Rhine Offroad" in the Siebengebirge A festival of regional products at the vineyard at the Drachenfels

Rhöndorf/Königswinter · Winegrowers exclusively from the region will be serving their wines in the middle of a vineyard from Thursday through Saturday. We ask what the current trends are and why the four-day closure of the Königswinter “Drachenbrücke” makes the wine festival so special this time.

 One important detail is different from last year at "Mittelrhein Offroad" in the Rhöndorf vineyards below the Drachnfels: This weekend, there will be no cars or trucks on the B 42 (left in the picture) due to the closure of the “Drachenbrücke”.

One important detail is different from last year at "Mittelrhein Offroad" in the Rhöndorf vineyards below the Drachnfels: This weekend, there will be no cars or trucks on the B 42 (left in the picture) due to the closure of the “Drachenbrücke”.

Foto: Frank Homann

While the stands are still being screwed together and the benches and seats are being set up in the middle of the vineyards below the Drachenfels rock, it (the traffic) is ever-present - and at least noticeable from an acoustic standpoint. But when the three-day wine event "Mittelrhein Offroad" (Middle Rhine Offroad”) between Rhöndorf and Königswinter begins on Thursday, June 8, the Königswinter “Drachenbrücke” (“Dragon Bridge”) will remain silent, or rather the traffic will not roll over it. Because: the 650 meter long connection between Bonn and Bad Honnef is closed due to concrete work over the entire long weekend. "We ordered it that way!,” says event host Felix Pieper. "No seriously: We recommend anyway that public transport is the best way to get to us," says the winemaker from Rhöndorf.

For the twelfth time, what is possibly the most chilled-out of all wine festivals in the region will take place at the Domstein, and for the first time there will be less traffic noise than ever before. “Offroad” tradition is that Pieper gets friendly wineries to join in: Kay Thiel from Oberdollendorf will be there for the first time. He cultivates his land in several places in the northern Middle Rhine region - and is pleased "to be able to contribute to the diversity of our growing region and this beautiful event," as he says.

Experiments in wine are in vogue

"The term offroad alludes to the special conditions of steep-slope wine-growing on the Middle Rhine," explain Thomas and Martin Philipps from the Philipps-Mühle winery in St. Goar, who are also taking part. Cultivation, they say, is only possible with physical effort, a lot of manual labor and a high level of personal commitment. "It's wonderful that we can convey the aspect of our work here where the wines come from.”

Martin Sturm is a wine-grower in the Middle Rhine: The organic winemaker from Leutesdorf is participating for the second time. "The land of the Middle Rhine is just as excellent as in very good steep slopes of the Mosel and Ahr," finds Sturm. The result: "Handmade wines of outstanding quality are offered," he says. "It's nice to see old acquaintances again. But we also want to inspire families and an inquiring, wine-savvy audience who are visiting us for the first time," says Felix Pieper. True to the motto “walk along and enjoy", wine fans from near and far are invited to stroll along the paths of the vineyard and off (“offroad").

The fact that the three-day wine event has become a kind of festival of regional products is underlined by the fact that with the Bredershof from Niederdollendorf, the Foodbox from Rheinbreitbach, with Pasta e Basta from Bad Honnef and the Einkehrhäuschen from Königswinter, only regional restaurants are represented.

The current trend in wine is that connoisseurs like to go on a journey of discovery, which is also an experience with regional growths, as Pieper finds: Classic Rieslings with pronounced minerality and fine fruit await visitors at all four stands. It is also worth looking a little closer at the wine lists at each stand: elegant, supple Burgundies, forgotten grape varieties, experiments in wooden barrels, sparkling wines and other white and red wines are for the take. "And fruity, berry rosé - adapted for the weather.”

“Offroad” starts at 12 p.m. on Thursday, June 8, at 5 p.m. on Friday, June 9 and at 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 10.

Orig. text:

Translation: ck

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