When the vines turn red: autumn around Ringsheim
On the Upper Rhine, autumn is not a transitional season – it is high season for food lovers. The vineyards change colour, the seasonal wine taverns pour the new wine, in Alsace the Flammkuchen comes fresh out of the wood-fired oven – and in the forests along the edge of the Black Forest, mushroom season begins.
The VOYA Hotel in Ringsheim sits exactly where these four things meet: between vine-covered slopes, the Black Forest and the French border. Here are our favourite ideas for an autumn day in the Three-Country Corner.
Hiking: the Kaiserberg Tour starts right on the doorstep
Ringsheim, Ettenheim and Herbolzheim share one of the loveliest wine trails in the area: the Kaiserberg Tour. Around 19.5 kilometres and almost 400 metres of ascent lead in a figure of eight through vineyards and meadow orchards around the Heuberg tower – with views across the Rhine plain to the Vosges.
Good to know:
- Starting point in Ringsheim: the Bürgerhaus on Denkmalstraße
- the figure of eight is easy to split into two halves
- shorter loops from Ringsheim: Genussrunde (4.9 km), Wein-Kunst-Weg (2.4 km), Glückauf-Schleife (5.0 km)
- Maps and details from the municipality of Ringsheim and on weinlandbreisgau.de
If you want to climb higher, you will find day hikes with considerably more ascent on the Black Forest’s Genießerpfade trails – the edge of the Black Forest starts less than 20 minutes east of Ringsheim.
On the Upper Rhine, autumn is no in-between season – it is high season for food lovers.
New wine: Neuer Süßer, Federweißer and the Straussenwirtschaft
From September, Baden pours Neuer Süßer – half-fermented grape must, sweet, lightly sparkling and only good for a few days. In the Palatinate it is called Federweißer, in Alsace vin nouveau. It is traditionally served with onion tart.
It is poured where it is made: in Straussenwirtschaften, the winemakers’ taverns that may only open for a few weeks a year. There are plenty of them around Ringsheim, Ettenheim, Herbolzheim and on the Kaiserstuhl.
- Neuer Süßer only tastes good fresh – it hardly travels
- Straussenwirtschaften open irregularly, so check the winemaker’s website first
- classic pairings: onion tart, sausage salad, Flammkuchen
- the alcohol content rises a little every day – if you are driving, better stick to grape juice
Flammkuchen: 40 minutes to Alsace
The other half of autumn lies across the Rhine. From Ringsheim it is around 40 minutes to Colmar, Sélestat or the wine villages along the Route des Vins – where the tarte flambée is rolled out thin and baked in a wood-fired oven: crème fraîche, onions, bacon, nothing more needed.
Best of all is combining the two: a walk through the vineyards in the morning, across the border at lunchtime, Colmar’s old town in the afternoon and back to Ringsheim in the evening. You will find more ideas for the region on our page The Three-Country Corner.
Kaiserberg Tour
Kaiserstuhl
Genießerpfade
Colmar & Alsace
Ettenheim
Freiburg
VOYA Tip: Plan your wine afternoon without a car. Many Straussenwirtschaften around Ringsheim, Ettenheim and Herbolzheim lie right on the hiking trails – if you walk the loop, you can taste the new wine instead of just looking at it.
Vineyards in the morning, across the border at lunchtime, back to Ringsheim in the evening.
Mushroom picking: what is allowed in the Black Forest
Mushroom season starts in September. Porcini, bay boletes and parasols grow in the mixed forests along the edge of the Black Forest – often just a few kilometres beyond Ringsheim. It is important to know the rules:
- Pick for your own use only – in Baden-Württemberg, protected species are limited to one kilogram per person per day
- picking is prohibited in nature reserves
- in Baden-Württemberg, chanterelles are best left standing – their numbers are declining
- twist mushrooms out gently and close the hole with leaves or soil
- if in doubt, leave it: only pick what you can identify with certainty
A good overview with species lists is provided by NABU Baden-Württemberg.
After the hike: arrive, eat, stay a while
An autumn day in the Three-Country Corner rarely ends early. After a hike, a wine tasting and Flammkuchen, the short way back to Ringsheim is exactly what you need.
At VOYA, a bar and restaurant await you right in the house – more under Restaurant & Bar. Plus rooms and Adventure Lodges with space for groups of friends and families – see Rooms & Adventure Lodges. Your dog is welcome too: see Vacation with Your Dog at Europa-Park.
Conclusion: four good reasons for an autumn in Ringsheim
Hiking the Kaiserberg Tour, new wine in a Straussenwirtschaft, Flammkuchen in Alsace and mushrooms at the edge of the Black Forest – in the Three-Country Corner you can combine all of it in a single weekend.
And because distances are short, there is time for what makes autumn here special: eating slowly, lingering at the table and setting off again the next morning. You will find more ideas in the VOYA Journal.
Autumn days in the Three-Country Corner
Book your room or Adventure Lodge at VOYA Hotel Ringsheim – right between vineyards, the Black Forest and Alsace.
Hiking, wine, Flammkuchen. And a short way back.
Image credits
- Federweißer and onion tart – photo: Hardo Müller, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Town hall and church in Ettenheim – photo: Jens Fiedler, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Alsatian Flammkuchen – photo: Brücke-Osteuropa, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Porcini in a basket – photo: George Chernilevsky, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons