Blauburgunder Country: The Pinot Noir Vineyards near Schaffhausen

Sunday October 20th -- This time the best weather was definitely in the far North of the country, in the area near the Rhine Falls and Schaffhausen, surrounded on all sides by Germany.

The sky unfortunately was hazy, but we had sun, and the weather was almost too warm (I have a hard time with this kind of fall weather: When we walk in the sun, I have to change into shorts, but in the shade it's too cold, and I put on my jacket...) and once we got to the vineyards near Hallau, the bright reds and yellows made a very nice warm autumn palette. We took our time and sauntered through the Pinot Noir vineyards (locals call the grape Blauburgunder) enjoying the pleasant countryside (this is the largest connected winegrowing region of German-speaking Switzerland), sampling some grapes which were left on the vines, admiring the local landmark: St. Moritz Church up on a hill visible from all directions. And at the start and end of the hike, a tour through the very quaint villages of Schleitheim and Hallau.

And what always amazes me is that we can walk along country borders here: Three kilometers of our 13-km walk was along the Swiss-German border, crossing slightly back and forth, passing borderstones that mark the exact borderline. So that sometimes you are in Germany, and sometimes in Switzerland, and when we had our lunch, I had mine in Germany while Urs had his in Switzerland! I always have a great time with that.

We started in the village of Schleitheim, spent a good 30 minutes walking around the core. Very nice houses here

Lots of half-timbered houses in this northern part of Switzerland

There's a little creek running through the village

I rather liked the statue on the fence. Further along was a "duck house" built into the wall, and the ducks could go up and down the stream as they wished

Heading out of Schleitheim westward toward the German border, there are a few vineyards here as well.

Walking along the vineyards near Schleitheim

Forests are always lovely here

We started in Schleitheim, and after a short section of vineyards, we walked about 3 km along the German border (i.e. German Forest to the West and Swiss Farmland to the East), before reaching the region called Blauburgunderland (local name for Pinot Noir)

Along the border, sometimes we were on the Swiss side, sometimes on the German side (bottom left, D for Deutschland), and sometimes one foot in each country

Merkedel (there was supposed to be a stream here) ... well "Edel" means noble.

Walking along the country border. The farmer's land is in Germany, but I guess he has to drive on the Swiss road when doing his work here!

The highest part of our hike. We were walking on trail no. 34 "Klettgau-Rhein-Weg". I had forgotten that we had been here once before!

To the West, forest that we had just crossed (far in the back is a castle in Germany, the castle is called Schloss Hohenlupfen)

And to the East, the vineyards of Hallau

A lovely warm day for strolling through the vineyards of Hallau

Blauburgunder Country

I particularly liked the vines that turned burgundy colour (although those were not the Pinot Noir). I didn't know vines turned red, I've only ever seen the yellow ones.