The small winegrower village of Mußbach in the Palatinate has a Weinlage (smaller than a wine appellation but consisting of a number of vineyards) called “Eselshaut” (skin of an ass). The name is supposed to relate to the grass growing around the vines and which was harvested to feed the donkeys.
Images of donkeys abound all over the town in crests and emblems and sculptures. I found this red one particularly asinine … fetching.
……………………………………….
We noticed this door while passing and all of a sudden we felt watched.
We went to a winefest on Saturday, the first in two years! It was a longish wait to get in (only 500 people were allowed in the courtyard of the winery including those who only came to pick up their 2 or 3 or 5 litre canisters of new wine, so we had to wait until other people left, had to show our vaccination certificate and log in with the tracing app) but it was worth it. We drank new wine which is called “Federweiße” – a milky liquid with fermentation not yet completed. The traditional glass used at any wine festival in the Pfalz is the “Dubbeglas“.
It has round grooves – which helps your grip if your fingers are greasy from holding a sausage roll or a roll with “Saumagen” or other local delicacies.
Here is proof that we went to a winefest in 2021; the glasses are usually decorated with a new picture every year. If you are wondering about the colour of the wine it’s a red spritzer (“Schorle“) – we changed to mature wine because too much “Federweiße” can … well it can give you the runs before it makes you drunk. But the glasses hold half a litre and we are not hard-core enough to drink half a litre of wine at a time and live to tell the tale.
These are the baby versions (250ml) which are a concession for tourists and are not really taken seriously.
pictures imperfect blog 