Nahe | schwingeninswitzerland

While in Bad Kreuznach, Germany we saw giant structures on the side of the road. They were 9 meters (27 feet) high and looked almost like walls. We wondered whether they were for flooding, remnants of ramparts or used for something else. It turns out that they are Saline graduation towers, structures used to produce salt by removing water from Saline solution via evaporation.

The towers are made from a wooden wall-like frame stuffed with bundles of brushwood (typically blackthorn). The Nahe valley has many salt springs. Salt water from them runs down the tower and partly evaporates, leaving minerals behind on the twigs. The water in the bottom has a higher salt content (as a result of the evaporation).

We’d never seen these before, but apparently they are in spa towns in Germany, Poland and Austria. Our friends told us that the air around them is beneficial and people with lung problems flock to them like they do to the seaside. The salt water (for both inhalation and bathing) remains a remedy for rheumatic diseases, asthma and skin conditions.

Of course, we had to check them out. We hiked through the Salinental valley from Bad Kreuznach to Bad Münster to see them. They were pretty sweet. You almost got a high from breathing in the air. It had a salty, tangy, fresh smell, kind of like the ocean without any fishy odors. The area around the towers felt cool and it was very refreshing.

The Kurpark gardens are billed as Europe’s largest open-air inhalatorium, they offer private salt rooms and spas on site. saline nebulizer, the thermal baths and a number of rehabilitation clinics. Saline nebulizers spray a fine salt mist into the surrounding area. The saltwater droplets are then breathed deep into the bronchial tubes.

You have been able to get radon therapy for rheumatism and inflammations for over 100 years. Bad Kreuznach pioneered radon therapy in an underground quicksilver chamber. Patients sit in an underground room, inhaling radon gas. I was surprised to see it because we had to do a radon test in our basement when I was a kid.

We walked along the water to adjacent Bad Munster. Although there isn’t a ton besides campers and more spas in Bad Munster, it was beautiful. It was so beautiful that Turner even painted it. In 1844 while exploring the smaller valleys of the Rhine, he painted the castle of Ebernburg from the Valley of the Alsenz (click here to see the painting or go see it at the Tate in London).

Weingut Otto Laubsenstein (schwingeninswitzerland.wordpress.com)

While the Rhine Valley is filled with wineries, when we went wine tasting in Germany, we went to Weingut Otto Laubstein in Hochstatten (in the Nahe region near Bad Kreuznach and Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg). We were spoiled becasue the wine was so good. Every wine we tasted after that, was disappointing. Don’t get me wrong, they were fine wines, they just weren’t as good as what we had at Weingut Otto Laubstein.

It is a family business. They have been making wines on the property since 1860 and are in their fourth generation. Torsten Hashgagen and his wife Marita Laubenstein-Hashagen took over from her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Otto Laubstein. We were lucky enough to meet them all.

They are passionate about it, take it seriously and are focused on quality. When we met Torsten, he joked that quality control is his favorite part of winemaking. Images of him enthusiastically tasting wine out of barrels popped into my mind. Microscopes and test tubes did not. We’ve done several wine tours and tastings, but this tour was the first time we saw a chemistry lab. He uses the technology in his lab to gather as much information as possible about his grapes and wines as well as to compare them year after year to produce the best quality.

Torsten is committed to continuous improvement and has an exceptional focus on quality. Signs of it were everywhere, from the small batches to exercise more control over the grapes, to the textbooks within arms reach, to being organic. When I remarked on the books, Torsten enthusiastically opened them and told me how he still uses them and the pleasure he takes in reading about winemaking.

The winery has Ecovin designation which means that it meets strict, constantly updated (beyond regular EU or association) requirements for quality and ecological consequences. Ecovin wineries work toward healthy ecosystems in the vineyard by conserving soil and water, encouraging beneficial insects, and refraining from using pesticides or chemical fertilizers. Winegut Otto Laubstein sees their Ecovin (aka Bio, Organic) efforts as a part of producing superior quality wines.

They’ve even got wind power!

We got to taste some wine at the fermentation stage. See the difference in the pictures? The finished wine is lighter, clearer and higher in alcohol. The fermenting wine is still cloudy and has sediment. It was interesting to taste the wine in progress. In case you were wondering, it tastes a lot like the finished product, but is rougher and not as clear. The flavors aren’t as distinct.

Mr. and Mrs. Otto Laubenstien biggest treasure isn’t their winery; it is their five lovely daughters. Three of them became Wine Queens (the only time in Germany that so many have come from the same family). Wine Queens use their knowledge of wine growing and production to promote their region’s wine at events like fairs, business conferences, wine festivals, and openings, both at home and abroad. Essentially, they serve as an ambassador of their region’s winemaking industry. I learned that queen is Königin in German; it became my nickname for Marita (who still looks like a wine queen). Torsten named their upper tier, highest quality wines “Princess” after her and her sisters. How sweet.

The winery has a wine cellar that is over 400 years old. It stays at a cool, constant temperature. The old brick arch of wine cellar was beautiful and if I’d had a sweater, I would have spent hours in there taking pictures. The wine tour ended in the wine tasting rooms (note the Wine Queens on the walls) where we drank wine and spent hours asking Torsten questions. Torsten clearly loves his work.