Wineries an easy drive from Berlin
The Mosel, Rheingau and Baden wine districts are all in the southern and eastern parts of Germany, about 600 to 700 kilometres from Berlin.
But fortunately, two less wellknown wine areas are an easy drive down the autobahn from the capital city. The Sachsen and Saale-Unstrut regions are small but postcard-pretty, and they produce a variety of fine vintages that just might change your perception of German wine.
Spend a few days in Berlin before you head to the wine country. If you want to get a sneak preview of the kinds of vintages you can taste in Sachsen and SaaleUnstrut regions, book dinner at Rutz restaurant and wine bar in the city’s central Mitte neighbourhood. Restaurant manager and sommelier Billy Wagner has won a slew of awards for his carefully chosen cellar of more than 400 German wines from across the country.
When you’re ready to head to the two wine regions, getting there from Berlin is easy. Plan on renting a car because you’ll need one to get from winery to winery once you’re there. Both SaaleUnstrut and Sachsen are within about 200 kilometres of Berlin — about a two-hour drive, give or take, depending on how fast you drive on Germany’s no-speedlimit autobahns.
Both wine regions are small, which means they are easy to get around in a couple of days, and picturesque, with vineyards cascading down river valleys interspersed with stunning yellow fields of canola, used mainly to fuel German cars and trucks.
The pretty city of Dresden is at the heart of Sachsen (also called Saxony.) If you’re planning to stay overnight in Dresden, the Kavaliershaus Schloss Albrechtsberg has two guest suites set in a lovely garden near the Elbe river. Book ahead to take a walking wine tour of the grounds (in German) with Dr. Christian Müller, whose son Lutz is now winemaker at nearby Weinbaubetrieb Lutz Müller.
Radebeul, about 10 kilometres from Dresden, is worth a visit for the impressive Schloss Wackerbarth, Sachsen’s oldest producer of Sekt (sparkling) wines.
Its immaculate grounds surround the restored baroque manor house built in the early 1730s by the Count of Wackerbarth. You can take a tour of the castle and gardens or the modern winemaking operation, or you can just sit in its immaculate gardens.
From Radebeul, the city of Naumburg in the Saale-Unstrut wine region is about 170 kilometres to the east.