Kaiserslautern American
November 5, 2021
Page 15
Viticulture in Germany By Gina Hutchins-Inman 86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs Germany is one of Europe’s largest winegrowing countries. From September to early December, the harvest season sees wine fests of all sizes in almost every town. The Moselle and Saar valleys, both in Rheinland-Pfalz, along with Rheinhessen in the north is the largest viticulture area in Germany and makes up about two-thirds of the German winegrowing regions. Most of the vineyards are on or very close to the 50th latitude, which is rather unusual in international comparison. High quality and successful viticulture is only possible based on a special unique meso and micro climate condition. The “Deutsche Weinstras se” (German wine road) stretches 85 kilometers from Rheinhessen in the north to the French Alsace region in the southwest and ends at Deutsches Weintor (wine gate). Many famous towns such as Bad Dürkheim, Neustadt and Landau lie along the way and the region is renowned for vineyards as far as the eye can see on flat plains in close proximity to the Rhine River. The special mild climate zone provides 1.800 hours of sun a year. Another famous viticulture region is along the Moselle and Saar rivers, but on steep slopes with up to 60 percent inclines. Approximately 60 million vines grow along the steep hills where the winding rivers reflect sunlight onto the slopes and warm the vines to ripen to a plentiful harvest. The Celts were the first to cultivate white grapes along the banks and slopes of the Moselle river almost 3000 years ago. The Romans refined the winemaking process, improved the quality and eventually introduced darker red grapes. As wine consumpKAISERSLAUTERN
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tion of the Romans grew along with the empire throughout the centuries, soldiers and civil servants were paid with wine, rather than coins, and even slaves received a daily ration. This quickly led to the tasty liquid evolving into a well-traded and precious commodity. About 9.250 million hectoliters (2.440.500 gallons) of wine are produced annually in Germany and approximately 257.000 hectoliters (668.200 gallons) alone are exported to the United States. September marks the beginning of the harvest season. Large stateof-the art grape harvesters can pick the grapes on even surfaces. The machines are able to pull the grapes off the small twigs and leaves by shaking and rattling them before they are conveyed to a large con-
RAMSTEIN CHAPEL PROGRAMS 86 AW/HC, Unit 3210, APO AE 09094-3210 North Chapel (Bldg 1201) (DSN) 480-6148, (Civ) 06371-47-6148 South Chapel (Bldg 2403) (DSN) 480-5753, (Civ) 06371-47-5753 Vogelweh Chapel (Bldg 2063) Please call Ramstein North Chapel Kapaun Chapel/Annex (Bldg 2781/2782) Please call Ramstein North Chapel For more information about our services, please visit us on Facebook: Facebook.com/RamsteinChapelOfficial Or at the Ramstein Air Base website: https://www.ramstein.af.mil/About/Fact-Sheets/ Display/Article/2597677/kmc-chapels/
Buddhist (SGI)
Service: North Chapel, 10:30 a.m., 4th Sat
Lutheran (WELS)
Service: South Chapel, 4 p.m., 2nd & 4th Sun
Orthodox
Divine Liturgy: Kapaun Chapel, 08:45 a.m., Sun Children’s Church School: Kapaun Annex, 10:45 a.m., Sun Adult Scripture Study: Kapaun Annex, 10.45 a.m., Sun Great Vespers: Kapaun Chapel, 5 p.m., 4th Sat *Confessions available afterwards
Wiccan
Facebook.com/VogelwehOpenCircleSWC Service: Kapaun Annex, 7 p.m., Sat
Unitarian Universalist
Facebook.com/ KaiserslauternUnitarianUniversalistFellowship Service: Kapaun Chapel, 1:30 p.m., 2nd & 4th Sun
Catholic Holy Family Catholic Community
Facebook.com/RamsteinCatholicCommunity Daily Mass: North Chapel, 11:30 a.m., Tue-Fri Confessions: North Chapel, by appointment only Sunday Masses: North Chapel, 9 a.m. & 1 p.m., Sun
Knights of Columbus (K of C) Meeting: North Chapel, 6 p.m., 2nd Tue
Catholic Women of the Chapel (CWOC) (except Jul & Aug) Bible Study: North Chapel, 9 a.m., Tue Book Club: North Chapel, 6 p.m., 2nd & 4th Thu
Catholic Religious Education (RE) (except Jun, Jul & Aug) Kindergarten – 8th and Confirmation class Ramstein Intermediate School: 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m., Sun Life Teen: North Chapel, 5:30 p.m., Sun
Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) (except Jul & Aug) Meeting: South Chapel, 6 p.m., Thu
tainer. However, the vineyards on the steep slopes of the Moselle and Rhine Rivers have to be picked by hand, a very tedious and back-aching task, with thousands of harvesters working with century old techniques. Grapes are stomped by foot in a traditional method during the Kelterfest in Piesport along the Moselle River. Former wine queen Martina Servaty even stomped herself into the Guinness Book of World Records when she pressed 12.76 liters (3.3 gallons) of juice out of a barrel with 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of grapes. After the initial grape pressing process, also known as keltering, the premier wine produced is called “Federweisser” (feather white) because of its milky, white color. Although very sweet in taste, it also
Handpicking
Photo by CoolR/Shutterstock.com
has a high alcohol content and is often sold in containers in little booths along the road side. A tradition that comes with the season is delicious and spicy “Zwiebelkuchen” (onion cake) together with the semi-processed wine. The warm dish, more of a quiche than a typical cake, with onions and bacon bits, is a per-
fect complement to the fizzling new wine. Freshly pressed, pure and sweet grape juice is also a perfect alternative for those that prefer a non-alcoholic delight. After the first winter frost in late November or early December, the very last grapes are handpicked and processed into a sweet, rare and expensive “Eiswein” (ice wine). Wine festivals take place in almost every village throughout the season and Neustadt/Weinstrasse is the host of the German Weinlese Fest (wine harvest fest) with a parade and a wine village set up with wooden booths to celebrate the harvest season. The German Weinkönigin (wine queen), required to have a broad knowledge of the different types of grapes and wines and their making, is crowned for a year. Bad Dürkheim has the world’s largest wine fest and Landau holds the “Fest des Federweissen” (Federweisser festival), both in October.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter –day Saints Early Morning Seminary/Scripture Study for High School aged students Ramstein School: North Chapel, 6:30 a.m., Mon-Wed, Fri Vogelweh School: Vogelweh Chapel, 6:30 a.m., Mon-Wed, Fri
Episcopal
Service: Kapaun Chapel, 10:30 a.m., Sun
Islam
Jumu’ah Khutbah: South Chapel, 1 p.m., Fri Potluck: South Chapel, 7 p.m., 1st & 3rd, Fri Daenner Chapel, 1 p.m., Fri LRMC Chapel, 1:15 p.m., Fri
Jewish
Facebook.com/KMCMILJEWISHCOMMUNITY Shabbat: South Chapel, 6 p.m., Fri Sabbath Kiddush & Lunch: 1 p.m.; RSVP and request location by COB Wed* Saturday Torah Study: 7 p.m. - request location & Zoom link* Sunday Hebrew School & B’nei Mitzvah Study – request location and Zoom link*
Messianic
Service: South Chapel, 10 a.m., Sat
Protestant
Contemporary North Chapel, 11 a.m., Sun Facebook.com/ramsteincontemporaryservice (Deaf & Hard of Hearing Ministry ASL interpreter available) Children’s Church: North Chapel Annex, Ages 5 and up (Children are dismissed during service to attend) Men’s Bible Study: South Chapel, 11:45 a.m., Wed Gospel: Vogelweh Chapel, 11 a.m., Sun Facebook.com/VogelwehGospelService/ Children’s Church registration begins at 10:45 a.m. Children’s Church: Vogelweh Chapel, Pre-K to 12th, Sun Traditional: South Chapel, 9:30 a.m., Sun Facebook.com/ramsteinprotestanttraditionalservice
Seventh - day Adventist Worship service: North Chapel, 11 a.m., Sat Bible Study: North Chapel, 10 a.m., Sat
IM HADERWALD 8, 67661 KAISERSLAUTERN Horarios de Servicios Service Hours Domingo 10:30 a.m. Sunday 10:30 a.m. Culto de Adoración y Familiar Worship and Family service Martes 19:00 Tuesday 19:00 Culto de Oración Prayer service Contacto de información Information contact www.iglesiabuenasnuevas-kl.de iglesia buenas nueavas alemania e.V. 0157-351-04829 Cuidado de Niños Childcare Servicios Bilingüe Bilingual services
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Sunday school 10 a.m. Worship 11:00, Wednesday Bible study 7 pm. Sunday nights are special; check out our Facebook & Web. Pastor John Hallman
PMOC Bible Study: South Chapel, 11:45 a.m., Wed
PWOC Bible Study: Vogelweh Chapel, 6 p.m., Mon Bible Study: South Chapel, 9 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 6 p.m., Tue Bible Study: Vogelweh Chapel, 9:30 a.m., Thu
Heritage Baptist is your home away from home; Come Grow with us.
Ramstein AWANA (RE) Facebook.com/groups/RamsteinAwana Protestant Youth of the Chapel (Middle & High School) Grds 6-8: North Chapel, 3:30-5 p.m., Tue Grds 9-12: North Chapel, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Tue Grds 6-12: Vogelweh Chapel, TBA
Officer Christian Fellowship North Chapel Annex, 5:30-9:30 p.m., Thu
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