Zell in Mosel Valley, Germany was founded by the Romans sometime after AD 70, and is characterized by its vineyards along the river with nearly 820 acres of planted vineyards making this quaint town the second biggest wine growing center in the Mosel wine region. Traditionally, it is mostly Riesling that is grown here, which is one of my most favorite white wines and so we chose to visit this town after our stop in Munich.
We stayed in the Tower room of the Hotel Schloss Zell, a small and romantic hotel, where once Emperor Maximilian in 1521 and King Friedrich in 1847 stayed. It was reasonably priced, had convenient free parking, and included a lovely breakfast each morning. We stayed for two nights, and it was the perfect location to explore the little town of Zell.
On our first night, we crossed the walking bridge to the other side in the Kaimt district, and enjoyed dinner at a home-style restaurant called Gasthaus Zur Linde.
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| The "cheese platter". |
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| Flammekuchen - a thin crust pizza, topped with olives and onions. |
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| Steak Frites |
We continued our way, walking passed the vineyards, some of which were already picking the berries. I noticed the black cat symbol everywhere!
According to legend, three wine merchants came to the town of Zell, in Germany, to buy some wine. In one of the cellars, they tasted several wines out of different barrels.
They had narrowed the choice to three barrels but they couldn’t agree on which one was the best. They were about to take another sample, when a black cat suddenly jumped on one of the barrels, arches its back, its fur standing on end, and swiped its paw at anyone who tried to get closer. The wine merchants quickly came to an agreement and chose the barrel which was so obstinately defended by the cat, thinking that it probably contained the best wine.
The merchants marketed the wine under the name “Zeller Schwarze Katz” (black cat from Zell) and it became so popular that other wine growers and the city government eventually gave this name to its vineyard of origin, in the town of Zell.
Many German wineries sell their own Zeller Schwarze Katz Riesling and most put a picture of a black cat on their label. Moselland was the first and only winery to actually market their wine in a black cat shaped bottle. Of course I picked up a bottle to bring home with me.
We were able to pop in a couple "weinhaus" - or wine house, literally a small winery or actual house of the local resident who owned some vineyards and produced wine - to sample some of their wine. It is not like the typical wine tasting that Americans are used to. You don't really pay for a flight - rather, you can ask to sip/taste and if you like it, you buy the glass or full bottle. With the language barrier, there is no real explanation of what you are drinking and it made for little engagement, so we did not really visit many weinhauses. Instead, we continued back to the main center of town where there are wine shops. Here you can also pay for tastings and glasses or bottles of wine. Most had a seating area outside, so it was nice to sit down, relax, and enjoy our glass of wine before moving on to the next place.We learned there are three main offerings of the Riesling: trocken (dry), halbtrocken/feinherb (semi-dry), and lieblich (sweet). Some vineyards produce a dry red wine called Rotwein. The trocken is my favorite. I also enjoyed the Sekt - or Brut sparking white wine. A sweeter version of the sparkling wine is called Secco.
